Harry Potter and the Power of Three
by Piper1019
Summary: Ch.34 up! Set in Harry's 6th year. Phoebe has a premonition that leads her and the sisters to Hogwarts. With the help of Dumbledore they go undercover as the new DADA teachers as they try to figure out what Voldemort is up to.
1. Default Chapter

Hello! This is going to be an H.P./ Charmed crossover. I've been thinking about this for a while and I hope it comes out as good as my muse made it sound in my head. ;) 

Summary: Phoebe has a premonition of someone being killed by a demon. What she doesn't know is that this 'demon' is really a death eater. When they try to vanquish him he gets away. This leads them to scry for him. When the crystal lands on London they know they are in for quite a ride. What happens when they discover the wizarding world and will they be able to help Harry finally vanquish Voldemort? 

A/N: that summary sucked and sounded pretty corny to me…but hey I don't want to give away the story. FYI: this takes place in Harry's sixth year and the 'charmed' part of it is this season. Also, every time Phoebe has a premonition, it will be in italics. 

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. 

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Chapter 1

"I need you to go to America and rid me of a certain threat. He is a spy for Dumbledore that keeps tabs on my death eaters there. If my plan is to work, I need him out of the picture. I can't have him leaking all of my secrets no can I?" he spoke in that cold, cruel, and heartless voice. 

"Yes, master. I will do as you wish." The man, who was wearing a black cloak with a hood covering his face, nodded slightly. "Where in America is he?"

"He is in a state called California. The city is called San Francisco." 

"Your will shall be done," and with that said, the man apparated instantly. 

Voldemort stood there smirking horribly. Then he whispered to himself, "Harry Potter will fall." 

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It was another morning in the Halliwell manor. Piper, as usual, was the first one up and was already making breakfast while Wyatt sat in his play pen orbing different things into it. Paige had just come down stairs and was sitting at the table munching on a piece of toast. 

"So, Paige, have you found another temp job yet?" Piper asked while pouring herself a cup of coffee and sitting at the table. 

"Yes, unfortunately. I have to work at the hospital…as a candy striper." Paige looked miserable at the thought. 

Piper let out a small snort. "Sorry, but you're the one who says you get these jobs for some _magical_ purpose."

"Yeah, I guess your right. I just hope I don't have to change any bed pans."

Just then Phoebe came walking down the stairs looking very tired and worn out. 

"Hey, sleepy head. You don't look so great,' said Piper. 

"It's crazy," replied Phoebe rubbing her forehead. "It's like my empath powers are on overdrive and I can't control them. I feel tired and alone and my head, it feels like I have a permanent headache. Someone somewhere needs to take some aspirin!" Phoebe yelled. 

"Do you want me to call Leo so he can ask the elders if there's something wrong with your powers?" suggested Piper. 

"No, it's okay, I'll manage," said Phoebe as she went to get a glass of water. Suddenly she gasped and gave a jolt that sent the glass of water crashing down onto the floor. 

***

_There was a man in a black cloak with a hood covering his face. He was standing in front of another man who was lying in a crumpled heap on the floor. They were standing in the alley behind P3. Then the man in the cloak spoke. _

_"You will no longer be a threat to the Dark Lord." _

_He pulled out a short, thin wooden stick and muttered something. Just then a green spark came out of the end of it and went straight towards the man on the floor. When it hit him, he lay motionless face up on the ground, obviously dead._

***

Phoebe opened her eyes to find two worried sisters staring back at her. 

"What'd you see?" asked Paige eagerly. 

"I saw a demon kill a man." 

"Well that's different," said Piper sarcastically. 

Phoebe shot her a look. "The demon had a stick thing, and when he said something, a green spark came out of the end of it and hit the man on the floor and he was dead."

"Hm, that is different," Piper said again, but this time there was no hint of sarcasm in her voice. 

"Did you see where they were?" asked Paige. 

"They were…behind P3. The demon said something to the man about not being a threat to the 'dark lord' anymore."

"Okay, let's go," said Piper. 

They were about to head out of the door when Piper remembered one little detail, Wyatt. "Wait for me in the car," she told the other two. "Leo!"

In a swirl of blue lights, Leo appeared in front of Piper, who was standing in front of the front door. "Is something wrong?" he asked. 

"Sort of. Can you take Wyatt with you while we go hunt down Phoebe's demon?" 

"Of course, do you want me to ask the elders about the demon?"

"I think we can handle it. Apparently it's only weapon was a wooden stick."

Slightly confused, Leo watched Piper walk out the door. He walked over to Wyatt and together they orbed out of the house. 

They reached P3 in five minutes. When they went behind to the alley it was empty. 

"Phoebe, are you sure this is the right place?" asked Piper. 

"I'm positive. Let's hide behind the dumpster." 

The three of them crouched low and kept their eyes towards the back entrance of the club. Then with a loud crack, a man had appeared out of nowhere in the alley. Two seconds later, the demon in the cloak appeared, also with a loud crack. As the demon pulled out the stick, the three of them jumped out from behind the dumpster. 

"Hey!" Phoebe yelled. 

The demon turned around and saw the three women standing there. As he pointed the stick towards them, Phoebe advanced ready to kick some ass. She levitated and just as she was about to kick him, he shouted _impedimenta _and Phoebe was frozen in mid air. 

"Phoebe!" Paige yelled as she ran forward. "Stick!" Paige yelled trying to orb the demon's stick out of his hand. But the demon shouted something else and all Paige ended up with was a stick off of the ground. 

The demon then pointed his wand at her and yelled _stupefy_. A jet of red light hit Paige square in the chest and she went sailing backwards into the dumpster. 

Piper ran forward and just a she was about to blow up the demon, he disappeared again and all that was left behind was a small piece of fabric that Piper had managed to blow off of the demon's robe. "Leo!" she called as she went to pick up the piece of cloth. 

He was there instantly. He rushed over to Paige and healed her. Then the three of them walked over to Phoebe who was still about ten feet in the air. "What happened to her?" Leo asked.

"I don't know. The demon shouted something, and then pointed his stick at her and she just froze," answered Paige. 

Leo grabbed a hold of Phoebe's ankle and pulled, and she came crashing down on top of him. "Oh, hi Leo. Thanks," said Phoebe. 

"Hey you!" Piper yelled causing everyone to turn around. She walked towards the man that was still lying on the floor. He looked up at Piper and said, "Thank you," before passing out. 

Leo orbed the man home while the girls made their way back by car. By the time they got there the man was conscious again. They all had many questions that they wanted him to answer. 

They were all sitting in the living room and Phoebe spoke first. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I've just been tortured for hours," the man said in a hoarse voice. 

"What's your name and what was that thing?" Paige asked. 

"He was no 'thing', he was a man, and my name is Paul Daniels." 

"But he had powers. He froze Phoebe in mid air and sent Paige flying into the dumpster." 

"Those are simple spells. Any wizard can do them."

"Excuse me, spells, wizard?" Phoebe said disbelievingly. "Next you're going to tell us that the stick was a wand," she said laughing. 

"What else would it be? You muggles are so ignorant of our world."

"Hey buddy, watch the name calling," said Piper. "What's a muggle?"

"A non-magical person."

"Well, then we are definitely not muggles because we are plenty magical, we're witches," said Paige.

Paul looked at them suspiciously. "If you are witches then where are your wands?"

"Don't need 'em," said Piper, "Watch." She took a plate that was on the table and threw it in the air. With a flick of her hands, it was frozen. "Paige care to demonstrate?" 

"Certainly." She held out her hand and said, "Plate." In a swirl of blue lights, the plate went from being in mid air to being in Paige's hand. 

"I can also blow things up," said Piper. 

"Hey, that's no fair, I can't exactly show him my powers," said Phoebe. 

"You can levitate can't you?" said Paige. With that, Phoebe stood up and levitated up to the ceiling. While she was up there she said, "I have premonitions, too, that's how I knew where you would be." 

Paul stared at them all wide-eyed. "I've never seen such magic before, and without wands. I'm impressed."

"Now that you believe them," Leo spoke up, "Care to tell us why that man wanted you dead?"

"I am a spy. I leak information about the Dark Lord's plans to the good side." 

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. Dark Lord? Is he like the new Source or something?" Paige asked. 

"What is a Source?"

"Apparently not," said Piper. "Look you need to go somewhere that you'll be safe while we track down this guy and vanquish him."

"But Piper, he's human," said Leo. 

"This Dark Lord doesn't sound human, though. Maybe if we vanquish him all of his cronies will give up," suggested Paige. 

"You, vanquish the Voldemort? It cannot be done."

"Wait who's Voldemort?" said Phoebe slightly confused.

"He is the Dark Lord. Most wizards are even too afraid to say his name. You cannot vanquish him. There is only one person who can."

"And this person is…" Piper said. 

"Harry Potter." 

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How was that for a first chapter? I think I like it so far. This is going to be very exciting. I hope you enjoyed. Please review…I eat them, so alas without them I'll die! ;) Any ides are welcome! Oh, and if you're going to flame…make it a mild one. ;)  


	2. To Hogwarts We Go

I'm baaaack! I am sooooo happy that I got reviews! I just wanted to say thanks to everyone. And a little side not: Piper is totally my favorite too! I just love her sarcastic humor. Anyway…here comes another chapter!

Disclaimer: you know I don't own it, I know I don't own it, everyone knows…so what the point of putting this? Oh right…so I don't get sued! ;)

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Chapter 2

Piper, Paige and Phoebe just started at Paul blankly. 

"Harry who?" asked Paige. 

"Potter, Harry Potter. He is the only one who can defeat the Dark Lord. It was prophesized before he was even born."

"Well whose to say he can't have a little help?" said Phoebe. 

"But you don't even know where he went." Paul looked as though he doubted whether or not three girls could help defeat the most feared dark wizard of fifty years. 

"But we do have ways of finding out. Paige can you get the crystal while Phoebe gets the map?" 

"But what are we going to scry with?" asked Phoebe. 

Piper then pulled out of her pocket the small piece of cloth that she had managed to blow off of the man's robes. "I knew this would come in handy."

Once Paige and Phoebe returned with the map and crystal, Piper started scrying. At first nothing was happening. "I don't get it, where is he?" said Paige. 

"Perhaps you need a larger map," suggested Paul, even though he really had no idea what they girls were doing. He did know that they were looking for the death eater but he didn't understand how a crystal was going to find him. 

"Will this work?" Phoebe had walked into the living room with a globe. 

"You know Phoebe; this is just like that time you were kidnapped by that mummy guy. We didn't know where you were until the crystal flew across the room and landed on Egypt," Paige said. 

At that moment, the crystal flew out of Piper's hand and landed will a loud tap on the globe. When she got up to see where it had landed, she saw that it had landed on London.  "Well, pack your bags, looks like we're going to London." 

"Of course he would return, it only makes sense," Paul said more to himself than to anyone else. Then he looked at the girls. "I must warn you. There is no doubt that he will have told the Dark Lord about you and your powers. He has many allies and you can trust no one, except Dumbledore."

At the mention of this name a small smile crept up on all three girls faces. Each was trying to hold back their laughter. Paul noticed. "Do you not understand how serious this is? Why are you all smiling?"

"Well, it just that…Dumbledore's a funny name," said Paige, but seeing the look on Paul's face she added, "Well, _we _thought it was funny."

"Dumbledore is the greatest wizard of this age. He is the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I cannot stress enough that the Dark Lord has spies every where. You must be discreet; whatever you do, do not use your powers in public or you will risk the exposure of our world."

"Don't worry about that. We've already learned that lesson the hard way," said Phoebe sadly. 

"How do we get to Hogwarts?" asked Piper. 

"You must go to the London train station on the First of September. There is an invisible platform there that you will go through. It is platform 9 ¾ and to get onto it you must walk directly at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. The Hogwarts Express leaves at exactly eleven o'clock which means you must get there before hand. I will have to go and warn Dumbledore that you will be coming. Whatever you do, do not breathe a word to anyone, especially the children, unless Dumbledore says it is safe. How will you be getting there?"

"We'll orb," said Paige. 

"Oh, you mean that thing with the lights? Yes well I'll make sure you _orb_ to a safe location where there aren't any muggles." He took out a small piece of thick paper that the girls recognized at once as parchment and wrote down an address. "This is the address to the Leaky Cauldron. Make sure you orb into the back alley, I'll have someone there waiting for you at ten o'clock to take you to the station. Just to make sure it's not a spy, we'll make a password; it will be Order of the Phoenix. If the person there does not give you the password, feel free to use your magic on them because they will surely show no mercy towards you. Then go inside and tell Tom the innkeeper to contact me. One more thing, you'll have to get robes. If you wait here I'll be back." With out warning and with a loud crack, he disapparated out of the Halliwell Living room. 

The girls sat there trying to take in all of the information that was just given to them. Then a startled Paige cried out, "Wait, isn't September first tomorrow?"

They decided to stock up on non-fatal potions while Paul was away. They couldn't get used to the idea that they would be fighting humans and not demons. But what they didn't understand was that the people they were dealing with might as well have been demons. They had already made several smoke bomb potions and were halfway through making a potion that would emulate Piper's exploding power when they were distracted by a large crack in the living room. It had only been about twenty minutes since Paul had left so they were fairly surprised to see him back so soon. 

When they walked into the living room the saw three sets or robes laid out. Piper immediately moved towards the dark navy blue one that looked almost black. Phoebe almost ran to get the deep crimson colored robes, and Paige was stuck with robes that were baby pink. They all put on their robes to see how they would look. To their surprise the robes started to change once they had them on. Paige's grew slightly longer and became less wide, Phoebe noticed that her sleeves were getting shorter and so was the bottom hem, and Piper saw her sleeves getting longer. They looked at Paul for an explanation. 

"Well, I didn't know what size you were so I got self-fitting robes. I also got you these." He pulled out of his own robes three wands. "I know you already have powers but I know these will come in handy." He laid the wands on the table and said, "It is common knowledge that the wand chooses its owner, so each of you hold out your hand and the wand will come to you." 

They each did what he said. The stood there for about a minute feeling pretty stupid when suddenly the wands began to vibrate and glow. One of the wands emitted a few green sparks and then flew into Paige's outstretched hand. Another wand Spun around three times before flying into Phoebe's hand and the very last wand help out a high pitch whistle and balanced on its tip before flying into Piper's hand. They were each very surprised and impressed at the power that they felt coming from this small thing. 

"Now just for practice, I want you to try a simple spell. Point the wand at the thing you want to levitate and say _winguardium leviosa._" He pointed his wand at he plate that Paige had orbed earlier and said the spell. It levitated smoothly into the air before returning to the couch it had been on. 

Piper was the first to try. She said the spell while pointing the wand at the scrying crystal. To her great surprise, the crystal actually rose from the table. Paige and Phoebe also managed to levitate the crystal. Paul was very impressed that they had each been able to do it on their first try. He now realized that they must indeed be quite powerful witches. "I have one last thing to give you." He pulled out a small pouch from his robes and handed it to Piper. When she looked inside she gasped. 

"Gold? What do we need gold for?" 

"This isn't just gold, its wizard money. You'll need it to get around and buy any supplies you might need for potion making. The large gold ones are galleons, the silver ones are sickles, and the small bronze ones are knuts. I must leave you now but we will meet again. Good luck." He disapparated. 

The girls spent the night levitating more things with their new wands and making more potions. Phoebe and Paige both called out sick the next morning and Piper had Paige orb over to the club and put a "closed for renovation" sign on the door. Leo had agreed to watch Wyatt while the girls were gone and he told them he would only be a call away if they needed him. 

At nine thirty in the morning they got all of their potions ready, put their wands and money into their new robes, and orbed to the alley behind the Leaky Cauldron. They waited only a few minutes before someone apparated in front of them. He was a tall and menacing looking man wearing robes of dark green. The girls looked at him waiting for the password. When it didn't come they started to worry. 

"Um, hi. Can we help you?" said Piper. 

"I'm your guide," said the man in a low voice that was more like a growl. 

"Aren't you forgetting something?" asked Phoebe. 

When he said nothing Paige added, "The password?"

"Of course, the password. It's Dumbledore," the man said confidently. 

"Wrong answer," said Piper, and she froze him on the spot. They walked inside towards the bar and asked for Tom. 

"Paul told us you knew how to contact him," said Phoebe. 

"And that I do," said Tom. He walked over to a fire place and threw in some dust. Then, to the surprise of the girls he stuck his head in the now green flames and called Paul's name. Already startled, the girls nearly jumped when they saw Paul's head floating in the fire. 

They explained what had happened and he told them they would have to come to his home by floo powder. After much objection on Piper's part, the three of them went by floo powder to Paul's house. Piper arrived in an especially bad mood because she had hit her head going into the fire place, and landed face first coming out of the fire place. The next thing that they had to do was get to the station. 

"No more floo powder for me," said Piper. 

"Don't worry, we'll use a port key." 

They didn't even bother to ask questions as he told them all to touch and old baseball. With a tug behind their navels they felt themselves being whisked away. 

They hit the floor with a loud thud in back of an alley near the train station. They knew what to do from here. They found the platform with ease, but looked at the barrier apprehensively. After little discussion, they walked through together. When they emerged on the other side their breath was taken away. The grand scarlet steam engine was sitting peacefully on the tracks while students walked around and got on the train. They were about to head towards it when a tall, and ancient looking man in sky blue robes approached them. 

"The charmed ones, I presume."

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I hope you liked it! Please review if you did…or didn't, I'll be happy anyway!


	3. Introductions

I'm so sorry this took so long, but I had it all typed up on my new computer that I just got and then when I went to upload it, it didn't work! I don't know why. Oh, well. There was a good question brought up about whether or not there would be pairings because of the age difference. All I can say is that there will definitely be crushes developing. They'll be pretty obvious. 

Disclaimer: I own no charmed or HP characters. If I did I would most certainly be living in a huge mansion in Hollywood! ;)

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Chapter 3

"The charmed ones I presume," said an ancient looking man in sky blue robes with a beard that just about reached the floor. 

"You presume right," said Piper. "Who are you?"

"Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"Oh, so he's the guy with the funny name," Paige whispered to Phoebe who promptly elbowed her. 

"Paul has told me all about you and I am very pleased to see that you wish to help us in our fight against the Dark Lord."

"It's no problem, it's what we do," said Phoebe. 

By now several of the students had stopped to stare at the four adults standing just in front of the barrier. Piper was starting to become a little uncomfortable with all of the attention. 

"Why is everyone staring at us," she asked. 

"Well, they don't see many new people during the school year at Hogwarts. I suppose their just curious," he answered. 

At that moment, a boy came running out from the platform and was just about to crash into them when-

FREEZE. Piper had frozen the entire platform, train, people and all.

"Whoa, talk about a power boost. Okay, you first," she said as she waved her hand and unfroze Dumbledore. 

He looked around slightly bemused before saying, "Well, it seems as if Paul laws telling the truth. I was afraid he might have been under some sort of spell, after all…who ever heard of witches who didn't need wands." He looked at the boy who was frozen mere inches from him and said, "Ah, Harry. Always in such a hurry. Would you mind…" Dumbledore said to Piper as he moved out of the way. 

She unfroze Harry and he went flying a few more feet until he came to a stop. "Ron, next time let's not run so fast," he said turning around to find Dumbledore and three women staring at him. He looked around and noticed that no one was moving, the steam had even stopped coming out of the train. "Professor, what's going on? Is it Voldemort?" he said worriedly. 

The first thing Piper noticed about the boy was his eyes. He had the most startling green eyes she had ever seen, and at the moment they were filled with worry."No, no, just calm down. Everything will be explained in due time." He looked at Piper and nodded. She got the hint and unfroze everyone. Harry couldn't believe his eyes. Had he really just seen that woman unfreeze everyone? He looked at his headmaster questioningly, but he simply repeated, "All in due time."

Just then, Ron came flying out of the barrier just as fast as Harry had. Paige had to jump out of the way to not get hit. 

"Hey, watch where you're going!" she yelled as she picked herself up from the floor. 

Ron turned around to see who had yelled. What he saw was a very pretty red headed witch with light pink robes on looking slightly perturbed. When he caught sight of Paige dusting herself off her turned a second, third and, fourth shade of red. He walked up to her slowly and said, "Blimey, I-I'm sorry."

"No big deal. Just watch where you're going next time," said Paige feeling a little bad that she had yelled at him. She watched him walk over to Harry; they took one last glance at them before getting onto the train. 

After that incident they boarded the train with Dumbledore. They went all the way to the front and entered a very discreet compartment off to the side. Once they were all situated, Dumbledore began to tell them everything about Voldemort. He told them about his hatred toward muggle-borns, all of the murders he had committed, and all of the pain and devastation he had caused. Dumbledore then proceeded to tell them about Harry and the prophesy. He told them that Harry was the one the platform that had nearly run them over, and that his friend was Ron. Piper's heart broke as she listened to Harry's story. She couldn't imagine dying and having Wyatt be raised by some horrible people that treated him like scum. Then imagine him having to run away from some demon that's constantly trying to kill him. She wanted nothing more than to make sure that Voldemort died a horrible, gruesome and painful death. When Dumbledore was finished telling the girls everything he thought they needed to know, he told them that he had to return to the school and take care of some things. Phoebe's empath powers told her that it was something very important but she didn't say anything. When he was gone, Paige was the first to speak. 

"Can you imagine going through all that in the first sixteen years of your life? How is he not an emotional wreck?" 

"I don't know, but this Voldemort is a bastard. How can he try to murder an innocent baby?" Phoebe was obviously angry. 

"See Phoebe," Piper began with a smile, "And you thought you couldn't hate anyone more than Cole."

She laughed and then said, "Yeah, well, you learn something new every day."

"I have to go to the bathroom. Can one of you come with me?" asked Paige. 

Phoebe volunteered and they left Piper alone in the compartment. She couldn't stop thinking about a certain blacked haired, green eyed boy on the same train. 

Out in the hallways of the train, Phoebe and Paige were having a little trouble.   
  


"Where did they put the bathroom on the thing?" asked Phoebe looking all around. 

"I don't know but if we don't find it soon, my bladder is going to explode."

They kept walking and almost walked straight into a tall, blonde haired boy with sparkling grey eyes. He was wearing a school uniform and was looking at the two with a slight smirk on his face. "Are you lost," he asked in a slightly amused voice while looking the two up and down. 

"We just need to find the bathroom," said Paige. 

All of a sudden it hit Phoebe like a ton of bricks. Her empath powers were working on overdrive again but this time they weren't picking up some unknown person's headaches, they were picking up this blond teen's very inappropriate feelings towards the two witches in front of him. Phoebe's knees nearly buckled at the amount of lust she could feel coming from this kid. 

He ignored Paige's statement about the bathroom and instead said, "I'm Draco Malfoy, and you are?"

"I'm Phoebe, this is Paige. It's a pleasure to meet you," she said a little too excitedly. Paige was staring to pick up what was going on and she knew that she had to get Phoebe away from this kid as soon as possible.  

"Pleasure's all mine…Phoebe," he said as he took her hand and placed a kiss on it. Phoebe had to grab Paige for support, lest her legs give way. 

Paige decided to put an end to this before it got out of control. "Alright, Casanova, where's the bathroom?"

Draco, not phased by this comment at all continue to practically undress Phoebe with his eyes as he jerked his thumb behind him and said, "It's down the corridor to the left." 

"Thanks," said Phoebe as Paige half dragged her away. 

When they got to the bathroom Phoebe let out a huge sigh. "That kid really needs to keep his hormones in check! If you could have felt the amount of lust he felt towards us…it was like grrrr," she growled suggestively.  

"Phoebe, you do realize that kid was only looking at you and that he's only like sixteen, right."

"He was not looking at only me."  

"If he looked at you anymore suggestively you probably would have gotten pregnant."

"You're crazy. But, hey, you can't say you didn't think he was cute."

Paige smiled wryly. 

"That's what I thought."

Back in the compartment, Piper was about to fall asleep when someone came bursting in on her. It was a certain green eyed boy she had been thinking about. 

"Oh, sorry," he said. 

"No, Harry wait," she said as he was about to walk out of the compartment. He stopped and turned around to reveal the red head that had almost run over Paige standing behind him. 

"How did you know my name?"

"Dumbledore told me. He told me a lot of things."

Harry and Ron looked at each other and sat down across from her. "I'm Piper. My sisters and I are here to help you. Paige, is the one you almost ran over (she pointed at Ron), and the other one is Phoebe." 

"Nice to meet you, but help me with what?"

"Help you vanquish Voldemort."

Both of their eyes widened at what she had just said. How much had Dumbledore told her? "What else do you know?" asked Harry afraid of the answer. 

"Everything."

Harry couldn't believe Dumbledore had told a complete stranger about his whole life. His angry thoughts were pushed aside when he remembered what she had done on the platform. "How did you…freeze everyone?"

"Freeze everyone? Harry, what are you talking about?" asked Ron confused. 

"Like this," Piper took a galleon out of her pocket, threw it in the air and froze it. 

"Bloody hell," said Ron. "You didn't even need a wand."

"I don't need a wand because I have the power inside me. My sisters each have a power too. Speaking of here they are now." 

Paige and Phoebe had just opened the door to the compartment and now looked rather confused. They sat down next to Piper. 

Paige recognized Ron and said, "Hey aren't you the kid who almost ran me over?" 

Ron nodded sheepishly before saying, "Yeah, sorry about that." 

"Paige, Phoebe, I want you to meet Harry and his friend Ron, remember Dumbledore told us about them."

Phoebe looked at Harry and Ron and understood. Comprehension dawned on her. "Oh, you poor thing!" she said. 

Harry looked very embarrassed. To get the attention off of him he said, "How long is that going to stay frozen?"

"Until I unfreeze it," said Piper. 

"Or until I do this," said Paige. "Gold coin." The coin orbed from the air into her hand. 

"Bloody hell," said Ron for the second time. 

There was a rather awkward silence after this that Piper tried to break. "So Harry, play any sports?"

Piper saw his eyes light up briefly before saying, "Yeah, me and Ron play quidditch."

"Bless you," said Phoebe. 

"No, quidditch. It's a wizarding sport."

Just then the compartment door opened and a pretty witch with curly brown hair walked in. "That was not the best subject to get them started on," she said. "I'm Hermione Granger; it's nice to meet you. I've just been having a talk with Dumbledore. He told me what's going on, Harry you're so lucky to have their help." She walked over and sat next to Harry. 

"Blimey, Hermione your hair," began Ron. 

"What about it?"

"It's different."

"Well, thank you for noticing."

The sisters had been watching this interaction closely. It was simple to see that the three were very close. Piper interjected, "I hate to break this little reunion up but I think we're here." 

They all looked out the window and saw a magnificent castle on top of a large hill. The charmed ones had laid their eyes on Hogwarts for the first time. 

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I hope that was okay! Please review!


	4. We're Going to Teach What!

I'm back for another chapter! I can't believe that I'm actually getting reviews! I was so excited that people were finding this funny and good. I just want to make something a little clearer because I think I gave the wrong idea last chapter about Phoebe and Draco. She doesn't really like him (although she does think he's cute, but who doesn't), it's just that her power just like Piper's has been magically magnified, so she felt what Draco was felling but times ten. It's kind of like an episode where she was trying to talk to Jason but she could feel what he was feeling towards her and she couldn't keep her hands off of him. But do not worry…I know that there is a major age difference between the two and I have no intention of anything serious happening between them, even though Draco will try his best to ?seduce Phoebe. Don't worry, she'll regain her composure and get a grip long enough to put him in his place. I forgot to put this in the other chapters: There are most likely going to be Ootp spoilers in here so you have been forewarned. 

Disclaimer: Can you imagine how rich I would be if I owned Charmed and HP…I would be positively rolling in doe. Too bad I don't own diddely squat. 

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Chapter 4 

As the train slowed to a stop, the sisters stared in awe at the gigantic castle that was before them. 

"We have to go but I hope we see you later," said Hermione getting up. 

Harry and Ron followed suit and left the girls quite alone and not knowing what to do. Just then an elder looking witch with glasses and a tight bun looked inside the compartment. "I have been looking all over for you," she said in a stern voice. "My name is Minerva McGonagall and I am the Transfiguration professor up at the school." 

"Transfigure-whaty?" asked Paige before McGonagall could speak again. 

A small smile might have twitched across McGonagall's lips but it was gone in a flash. "Transfiguration," she said in a business-like tone. "Come now, the headmaster reserved a carriage for you and he is waiting to speak to you just outside." 

The girls left the compartment and followed McGonagall off of the train. They were almost to the carriage when they heard a booming voice call, "Firs years, over this way, don' be shy now, come on." 

Piper saw that the voice belonged to a man who was, well, enormous. She thought if he had just a bit more hair he could pass for Bigfoot. "Holy shi-," she began but was cut off by a stern look from McGonagall and instead said, "Who is _that_?" 

"That is Hagrid, our game keeper. Now come along."

She led them to the very front of the line of carriages. Phoebe nearly had a heart attack when she saw the thestrals that were pulling the carriages. McGonagall had to assure her that they were not dangerous before she would get on. Once inside, Dumbledore greeted them cheerfully. He explained to them that they would be staying in a room on the fourth floor; it was across from a portrait of Barnubus the Weird. He told them that the room could be whatever they wanted it to be. All they had to do was walk by the door three times thinking about what they wanted in the room and it would be there when they opened the door. (A/N: yes that's the room of requirement. I couldn't remember the exact location that's in the book so I just made one up.) The girls found this very enticing. 

The carriages stopped in front of the school and Dumbledore and the girls were the first to get out. He led them up the path, through the gates, and into the main entrance. He told them that they could eat dinner then go and settle themselves in their room or they could go to their room now and worry about dinner later. They chose to eat dinner now because they did not like the idea of walking into a hall full of people and having everyone stare at them. 

As they were walking into the hall, Dumbledore explained to them about the four houses and about how all of the students get sorted and sit at a certain table. The girls reached the teachers table and sat down on Dumbledore's right. Paige sat directly next to him, and then came Phoebe, then Piper. Pretty soon other professors started entering the hall. Unfortunately for Piper, she was stuck sitting next to Snape. He eyed her curiously through his curtain of greasy black hair before looking at Dumbledore questioningly. When Dumbledore nodded, Snape knew these were the witches he had been talking about, the ones who were supposed to help them defeat the Dark Lord. Dumbledore took this time to explain to the rest of the professors that the girls were writers from the Daily Prophet who were going to do an article about a typical year at Hogwarts. Only McGonagall and Snape knew the truth because they were Order Members. 

A few minutes later the doors opened again and the students started pouring in. (From the perspective of sitting at the teachers table). Piper saw Harry enter with Ron and Hermione and sit at the second table from her left. Paige saw Draco entering with two rather beefy boys that she thought looked like body guards, and sit at the table to her far right, and she warned Phoebe to get a grip of herself. After all of the students had settled down, McGonagall came walking into the hall with two lines of students behind her. They looked much younger than the students already seated so the girls guessed that these were the first years that Dumbledore had told them about. McGonagall disappeared into a side chamber and reemerged from the room with a three legged stool and a very worn and tattered-looking sorting hat. One by one she called the students up to the front and had them sit on the chair. Piper nearly fell off of her chair the first time that the hat had yelled out the name of a house. Luckily for her no one saw because the students had erupted into cheers to welcome their new house member. Once the sorting was over, Dumbledore told the rest of the school about the article that the girls were supposedly writing. He also told them that they would be attending classes to see what the life of a student is really like. To this statement he received a "We are?" from Piper before she was elbowed by Phoebe. After this the feast began. Paige gasped as the food magically appeared on her plate. There was everything they could have asked for: chicken, mashed potatoes, bread rolls, pasta and salad. 

Paige began having an animated conversation with Dumbledore about the different qualities of the houses and how the students get picked. Phoebe was eating quietly while trying to ignore all of the different emotions she was feeling from the students. Piper was feeling very awkward sitting next to Snape. She got the impression that he was a very unlikable person, but she wanted to see for herself so she attempted a conversation. 

"Hi, I'm Piper Halliwell. It's nice to meet you," she said smiling. 

At first, Snape didn't think she was talking to him but when he realized she was he turned his head and said, "Pleasure, Professor Severus Snape."

"What subject do you teach, professor?"

"Potions."

"Really? I'm quite into potions myself. Of course they're mostly to blow demons up but-," Piper caught herself before she said anything else. After all she didn't know who knew the truth and who didn't. 

"It's quite alright, Ms. Halliwell, I know why you are really here." 

"Oh, good. Well, like I was saying we mostly make potions for blowing up demons, you know…vanquishing potions. Sometimes we just use a spell."

Snape couldn't resist the urge to ask, "Do you have a book of spells?"

Piper noted the amusement in his voice and stated seriously, "Yes, as a matter of fact we do. And if it wasn't for that book we would probably be dead and you guys would probably be screwed now wouldn't you?" 

Snape looked up at Piper surprised that she had taken that tone with him and merely said, "Do you really think you can defeat the most feared dark wizard for fifty years with potions and a silly rhyming spell?" 

"Well, we've vanquished the source of all evil three times so we're sure as hell gonna try," she stated before going back to her dinner. 

Snape thought that perhaps they could be of some help after all. 

After dinner, Dumbledore showed the girls where their room was. They were amazed at how many stair cases, hallways and portraits there were. 

"In Hogwarts, everything has a purpose and almost nothing is an accident." After this fortune cookie-like statement he explained to them how portraits have a password and that one must say that password to get past it. He also told them that he would be sealing off the corridor where their room was (for privacy) and that they were to choose a password. Dumbledore conjured a portrait of the Halliwell manor. It was so realistically painted that it almost looked like a picture. What was really amazing was that sitting on the front steps of the house were none other than…them. They were in the portrait. They (in the portrait) stood up and at the same time said "password?" The girls (not in the portrait) decided to make the password "book of shadows" because no one was likely to guess that. The only person other than them who knew the password was Dumbledore. He told them that he wouldn't give it to anyone without their permission, and also that they should only give it to those they trust. After this Dumbledore left. 

The girls stood in front of their doorway trying to decide what each of them wanted in the room. Once they had made up their minds, they walked by the portrait hand in hand three times, each thinking about what they wanted. They then opened the door. They were surprised to see that they had walked into the Halliwell manor itself. It seemed like all three of them agreed that they place they most wanted to live in was their own home. 

"Well, it's nice to see we agree on something," said Paige. "Didn't Dumbledore say that all we have to do is think about what we want and it will appear?"

"That's what he said," said Piper doubtingly. She decided to test it out. She thought to herself, _I need some hot chocolate_. Instantly, a mug of hot chocolate appeared on the floor next to her. "It works."

"Well, in that case the first thing I'm going to get is new robes," Paige said as she headed upstairs to her room. 

Before they went to bed, each girl made minor changes to their room, perfecting their living environment. Then they settled down in their usual beds almost forgetting that they were thousands of miles away from home. 

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No matter where they were, California or England, Piper was still always the first one up. She was in the kitchen making breakfast when Paige yawned and came downstairs, closely followed by Phoebe. Phoebe looked out the window and gasped. 

"What happened to our front lawn?!"

"Nothing, it's still in San Francisco remember," said Paige. 

"Oh, right, I forgot," said Phoebe slightly embarrassed. 

Just then a large owl appeared outside of the 'kitchen' window holding a note in its beak. Piper opened the window and let the owl in. 

"It's from Dumbledore," she read. "It's a schedule. Let's see, breakfast starts at eight, classes at nine. He gave us a list of classes and what time they start at so we could look in on them if we want. It even has the name of the professor. Hmm, that's weird."

"What," asked Paige and Phoebe together. 

"For Defense Against the Dark Arts it says to be announced where the professor's name should be."

"Oh, yeah. Dumbledore told me last night that he needed to find a teacher for that class. Apparently the position is like cursed or something."

"That sounds interesting," said Phoebe. "We should teach it."

"Hello? Phoebe are you there? Did you just not hear me say the position was _cursed_," said Paige. 

"Paige is right, Phoebe, I don't think that's such a good idea." 

"Piper, think about it. You could teach them defense potions, Paige can teach them how to write an effective spell, and I can't teach them how to fight."

"But they already have a potions class. But they don't really do the types of potions that we normally do…" Piper began. 

"Piper," said Paige warningly. 

"Ah, what the hell. Let's just go for it. Who knows, maybe Dumbledore won't want us to."

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Piper was regretting her carpe diem attitude when they told the headmaster their idea half an hour later at breakfast and he told them they had the job.

"I'll admit that muggle dueling is not something that I would have wanted my students to learn, but these are dark times, indeed. I'll have you teach the older students, the sixth and seventh years, while the younger students can have that as a free period. You first class starts at nine thirty and will be with the Gryffindors and the Slytherins. You should leave now if you want to get there in time. Be sure to pick up any supplies you need, you know where to get them," he said with a wink. 

The girls ran back to their room while listening to Paige talk about how much the Slytherins and the Gryffindors hated each other.  Phoebe quickly thought of some supplies she might need, _padding so that they don't get hurt when we are sparring_. Instantly a pile of protective gear appeared on the couch along with a large duffel bag to carry it in. All Paige needed was an example of a good spell so that she could take it apart and show the class how to write an effective one. Piper thought and thought of what she might need. _Well, I'm going to be teaching them potions, so what do I need? Duh! The book of Shadows._" Just as she finished thinking it, the book materialized in her hands. 

Once they had all grabbed what they needed they made their way to their class room. It was five minutes before they realized that they had no idea where they were going. They turned a corner and almost collided with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. 

"We certainly have a knack for running into each other don't we," said Phoebe struggling with the large duffle bag. 

"Let me help you with that," said Harry. "Winguardium Leviosa." The duffle bag floated out of Phoebe's arm and remained stationary in the air. 

"Thanks."

"Where are you headed?" asked Hermione. 

"To the DADA class room. We're supposed to teach the class," said Paige. 

"Really?" replied Hermione eagerly. "That's our first class. It's this way."

While they were walking, the sisters learned that the trio was in Gryffindor. They reached the classroom in no time. When they entered, the class broke out into an excited murmur. The girls walked over to the desk to find a sheet of parchment with the students' names on it. Phoebe had put the duffle bag next to the desk, Piper had put the book on the desk and Paige had put herself on the desk. 

"Well, um, I guess you're wondering why we're here. We are going to be teaching this class. Where come from, witches are a little different and we're going to teach you defense as we know it. It's probably going to seem primitive to you, what with your spells and wands and all, but trust me…this stuff has saved our asses more times than we can count." When Piper finished, everyone was looking rather excited. "This," she said holding up the book, "is the Book of Shadows. No one touches this but us. Understand?" Everyone nodded half heartedly. "I didn't hear anyone." The class answered with, "Yes, Professor Halliwell." "That's more like it. Phoebe take attendance."

Phoebe grabbed the list and started reading off the names. After each name the person raised their hand. "It would help if it was in some sort of order. Um, Parvati Patil? Ok, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, I saw you." Phoebe's eyes widened slightly when she saw the next name. No one noticed…no one except him. "Draco Malfoy?" Phoebe called and her voice shook slightly.

"Over here, Professor." Draco leaned in out of the shadows in the back of the classroom with a smirk on his face and made a mental note to sit in the front of the class room next time. 

Paige didn't know what it was about Draco, but she didn't like him. All she could think was, _I'd like to smack that smirk right off his face._"

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Well, how was that? Good I hope. I love your input so please give me some and I'll be sure to send you virtual cookies! I am definitely going to have fun with the whole 'charmed ones teaching DADA' thing. If you have any ideas that you might think are particularly funny or you might like to see, or whatever…do tell. I really like to know what's going on in the reader's head. Thanks for reading and please review!!! ;)


	5. Flipping

Thanks again to everyone who reviewed and actually likes this so far. I just have one comment to make to _Alexis-Lee_: you made an excellent point about the room of requirement. I didn't even think about that, but the way I see it not everyone knows about the room, and if they do know about it they (like Dumbledore in GOB) probably thought it was just another room. Thanks for pointing it out though! ;) Next chapter coming right up!

Disclaimer: okay so the chapter is after this. Why do we even bother…oh yeah so we don't get sued. But anyway it's a waste of time because if I did own it I would be writing books not fanfiction…DUH!!! ;) 

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Chapter 5

Paige looked at Draco who was smirking in a way he probably thought was charming but she just found it annoying. She wanted to get to Phoebe before there was a repeat of what happened on the train. 

"Last but not least, Neville Longbottom?" Phoebe called trying to avoid Draco's prying eyes. Neville went slightly pink and raised his hand. Phoebe began to fan herself with her hand. "Is it hot in here or is it just me?" she asked. 

Piper looked at her curiously, "It's definitely just you. Now let's get started. First-

"Um, Piper, Phoebe can I talk to you _outside_," Paige interrupted. 

Piper was somewhat irritated at having been interrupted. "Can it wait?"

"No, it can't," answered Paige and she grabbed them both by the arm and took them out of the classroom. 

Once outside the classroom Piper spoke first. "Paige, what's going on? And what's the matter with you?" she asked looking at Phoebe. 

"It's that kid, Draco whatever," Paige answered as Phoebe nodded her head in agreement. "Let's just say he has some _friendly _feelings towards Phoebe and she's feeling them double time." 

"Try quadruple time," said Phoebe who had finally stopped fanning herself. 

"Well, get a hold of yourself woman," said Piper. "Have some self-control for goodness sakes."

"I wish it was that simple. Wait…it is. I'm so stupid; I can't believe I didn't think of it before." Phoebe hit herself in the head as though the answer was obvious. Her sisters gave her a frightened look. 

"Phoebe? You're not possessed again are you?" said Piper taking a step back. 

"Yes," she said sarcastically. "No, but I am a witch. I'll just write a spell to block my empath powers from working on him." She walked back and forth a few times and then stopped and said, "His feelings of lust, far away they must be, block Draco Malfoy's emotions from me." 

They stood and looked around. "Did it work?" asked Paige. 

"Only one way to find out," Piper said as she opened the door to the classroom and walked inside. Paige and Phoebe followed. Once inside Phoebe gave them both the thumbs up…the spell had worked. Now they could get on with teaching the lesson. 

"Sorry about that, but we had some business to attend to. Now, first question: can anyone tell me what the symbol is on the front of the book?" Piper stared at the class. No one, not even Hermione, raised their hand. "This is the triquetra and it is our symbol. Covens of witches where we live each have a symbol. Another symbol would be the, um, the," she couldn't really think of another one. 

"The triple crescent," Phoebe chimed in. Most of the class was listening eagerly, and only Hermione was writing down every word they said. 

"Okay," Piper continued, "Let's take a vote. The options are defense potions, spell writing, and defense fighting." With the murmur that had broken out at the mention of fighting, the answer was clear. "Well, if you're sure…then take it away Phoebe."

Phoebe went to the side of the desk and got the duffle bag full of equipment. She started to take out shin guards, boxing gloves, elbow pads and other protective gear while the class looked at her as if she had five heads, six arms and three legs. Not even Hermione knew what she was doing and she was a muggle born. Phoebe looked up and saw everyone staring at her. She blushed lightly and decided to explain what she was doing and why they would need these things. 

"Since you probably have no idea what these things are and what we are going to use them for, I should probably tell you. This is protective equipment that you'll all be wearing when we practice."

Hermione hand shot up in the air eagerly. "Practice what, Professor?"

"How to defend your selves in case some one attacks you without a wand." The class really thought she was crazy now. 

Draco sniggered from the back and said, "Without a wand? Who would be stupid enough to attack someone with out a wand?"

"First of all, you didn't raise your hand," began Paige, "And second of all, demons don't need wands, they have plenty of powers already." Paige finished with her hands on her hips daring anyone to say anything otherwise. 

When no one spoke Phoebe continued. "Well, to demonstrate what we'll practice today, I'll need a volunteer." Almost every hand flew into the air, boys and girls alike. "I should probably warn you that this demonstration involves getting thrown on the ground…hard." Every girl put their hand down and so did a few of the boys. The only people with their hands still up were Harry, Ron (though he had been very tempted to put it down didn't because Paige had been looking at him), Draco (of course), Dean, Crabbe and Goyle (only because they were too stupid to understand that she said it would hurt) and Seamus. Phoebe looked around the room and her eyes landed on Draco. A small smirk found its way onto her face and she said, "Draco, come on down." He walked to the front of the room with a triumphant smirk on his face. "We're going to need some pillows or something for you to land on," said Phoebe thinking hard. 

"I don't need any pillows, I can handle it," he said. 

"Are you sure?" asked Phoebe smiling. Paige and Piper both knew what was coming and held back their laughs. 

"Positive, Professor," he said and he had practically purred it to her. 

"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you. Now everyone watch closely. This is what you do if someone tries to attack you from the back. Be sure to make it look real," she said to Draco.

Draco stood behind Phoebe and despite the age difference he was slightly taller than her, but then again Phoebe had never been exactly tall. He came up behind her and grabbed her shoulder threateningly. Phoebe took his hand and flipped him over her shoulder and he landed with a loud thud on his back on the cold stone floor. Everyone was giggling and it was all they could do to stop themselves from bursting out laughing, because they all knew Draco could and would retaliate. Phoebe took a small bow and everyone clapped.  

It took him a few seconds to get up and when he did he rubbed his back gingerly and looked at Phoebe scathingly. She simply shrugged and said "Hey, I tried to warn you," before she proceeded to break the class up into pairs. She paired people together that were about the same height and weight so that it would be fair. Some of the girls were excited, others nervous and some were just worried about breaking their nails (mainly Pansy, Parvati and Lavender). Hermione got paired with Lavender and Pansy got paired with Parvati. Phoebe almost paired Ron with Draco but one look at the red head's pleading face and she knew it would have been a big mistake, so she paired Ron with Harry despite the height difference. 

They had the students move the desks to the back of the room using a banishing spell, and then they had borrowed pillows from the charms classroom so that no one would get hurt. Pretty soon, the room was filled with the squeals of the girls and the triumphant yells of the guys when they had finally mastered the move. Phoebe walked around the room fixing people's forms and giving tips. She also lectured about when and when not to use this particular technique. Hermione was frustrated because she couldn't right anything down, but at the same time she was happy because she had successfully managed to flip Lavender (whose hair was now a mess). 

Meanwhile Piper was at the desk with Paige trying to figure out what they were going to teach for their lessons. Paige was flipping through the book looking for a simple spell to take apart so that she could show how it works and Piper was looking for a potion that didn't involve vanquishing a demon because where would they get one to test the potion on. Finally Paige settled on a simple spell to get rid of unwanted things (how bad could that be right?), and Piper settled on the Balthazar vanquishing potion because it was pretty complex and she didn't want to start off with anything that they might find boring. Besides it's not like they would ever need to use it again…right? 

Hermione informed Phoebe that there was only five minutes left in the class. Phoebe told everyone to stop and they proceeded to fix the desks and put away the pillows. "Alright, everyone…that was really good for a first time. Now, I'll warn you that you're probably going to be sore for a while. All I can suggest is that you soak in a nice warm bath; it'll relieve the tensions in your muscles. Look at the bright side; at least you won't have to do this again until after you've had your potions class with Piper and your spell class with Paige. For homework I want each of you to write an essay about what you learned, you know, the proper technique, when to use and when not to use and safety when you are practicing." Hermione was scribbling it all down furiously then she raised her hand. 

"How long does it have to be…one, two rolls of parchment?" she asked. 

"A whole roll?! If you can right that much then you should win some type of reward…but all I need are the answers. I don't care if it's two rolls or half a roll, as long as you answer the questions," Phoebe finished smiling at Hermione. She reminded her of how Piper was in school. Then Neville raised a shaking hand. He almost looked afraid of asking the question. 

"D-Do we really have _another _potions class?" he asked petrified at the very thought of another professor like Snape. 

Piper stood up from the desk. "Yes, is that a problem?" she answered looking at Neville. She could tell he was afraid of something (call it mother's intuition). 

"N-No, it's just that, that, what I mean to say is…" he trailed off lamely. 

Hermione spoke for him with a sympathetic look on her face. "Professor, he's afraid of Professor Snape, our other potions teacher."

Almost every Slytherin in the room smirked. It was amazing how they all looked so…evil. Piper ignored their faces and addressed Neville. "Look…Neville is it? I promise I'm not as mean as your other potions professor. I met him and I gotta say he's a pretty scary guy but trust me, I've seen worse."

"How much worse exactly, Professor Halliwell?" Black robbed and greasy haired, Snape had walked into the classroom. He had been walking buy the classroom when he heard Neville's question and Hermione's explanation. He was now waiting intently for Piper's answer. 

As soon as Snape had entered the classroom, Phoebe had been bombarded with waves of hate from many of the students.  

Piper was not going to back down, especially not in _her_ classroom in front of _her_ students. "A hell of a lot worse, Professor Snape," she said with her hands in her pockets.  

His mouth twitched and he turned his black eyes towards Neville. "Ten points form Gryffindor, Longbottom, for asking such an incompetent question." Then he stalked out of the classroom and closed the door. 

"What did he just say about points?" Paige asked. 

Of course Hermione chose to explain. "Professors are allowed to reward and dock points off of the four houses. At the end of the year the house with the most points win the House Cup. The professors usually only dock points when you've done something wrong," she finished with a frown. 

"That's not fair," said Phoebe, "Neville didn't do anything wrong."

Piper was thinking along different lines. "How many points did he take off?"

"Ten," said Phoebe, "Why?"

"Well, in that case…Neville I give you _twenty_ points for, um, being in class on time," said Piper. Neville blushed and said thank you. Piper didn't know that Snape had been listening. He walked off to the dungeons thinking, '_The nerve of that woman_!'

The class was dismissed and the charmed ones went back to their 'house' and contemplated their very first teaching experience, well Phoebe's first. They sat on the couch in the living room talking about the class. 

"You know what was weird?" said Phoebe. "When Snape came in I felt this huge wave of hate go through me. I just wanted to kick him or something."

"I don't need any empath powers to make me want to kick him," said Piper. 

"You know who I want to kick," said Paige joining in, "Draco. He's so, so, well I don't know exactly what he is but I don't like him."

"I'm totally with you on that one," said Phoebe. 

"He looks like a spoiled, rotten brat to me," Piper said. "Ten bucks says he's an only child."

"Deal," said the other two. 

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I hope that was good. It seemed a little boring. I promise the next chapter will be better. I was so bummed that they didn't show a new episode of Charmed this week, are they on break or something. They can't just leave me hanging like that! Anyway…please review, or email, or review, or email, or review, or…you get the point. ;) Until next time!

*~*~*~*~Jarie1019~*~*~*~*


	6. A Littel Visit and A Lot of Shields

Sorry this took so long but I have been so busy. I have like five papers due in two weeks! I don't know if I'll finish them all. Wish me luck!

Disclaimer: I don't own a thing…yadda yadda yadda.

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Chapter 6

"Deal," said the other two. 

"Damn," said Piper. 

"What's wrong," asked Phoebe. 

"I just remembered that to make a vanquishing potion you need the flesh of the demon."

"Yeah, so?" said Paige. 

"Well, I was going to make the Balthazar potion because it's hard and I didn't want them to be bored with their first potions class with me, but I don't think we have any more Balthazar flesh, do we?"

"There's one way to find out. Chris!" Phoebe called. 

In a few seconds a swirl of white lights appeared in the 'living room' and a very confused Chris looked at the three of them. 

"Wait a minute, I just orbed _from_ the living room so how can I still be _in_ the living room. Your demons aren't you? This is a trap isn't it?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…slow your roll there bucko. It's us," said Piper. 

"Yeah, paranoid much?" said Paige. 

"Can you blame me?" said Chris. "What do you want?"

"Don't you take that tone with me young man, I'm your mother," said Piper in mock sternness. "I need you to go look in the fridge and see if we have any Balthazar flesh left."

"Can't you just look in that fridge?" he asked pointing to the kitchen. 

"No we can't just…can we?" asked Phoebe. "I mean, we can just think of what we need and we get it. Why should this be any different?"

"Because Cole's dead. So how can we just think up a piece of his flesh?" said Paige. 

"Eeww. Can you just go look?" said Piper. 

"Fine, I'll be right back." He was gone again. 

After a few minutes, Chris came back holding a small plastic bag. Inside there was unmistakably a piece of flesh. Piper stored it with the other ingredients needed for the potion. 

"What do you need this for anyway?" asked Chris. 

"A vanquishing potion," stated Piper. 

"I know that, but why would you need a vanquishing potion for someone who's already dead?"

"To teach my class."

"To _what_!? Are you crazy? Do you want to die?"

Phoebe laughed. "How are we going to die from teaching a class a few potions and spells? Besides, it's like you said, he's already dead."

"Look, when I heard you guys were going to be here I did some research. It turns out that this Voldemort guy went to this school and was in Snake-something. I bet half the kids in that group or whatever you want to call it-

"A house," Paige interrupted. 

"Whatever, I bet their all already working for him. You have to watch what you say to them."

"Chris, their kids…I think we can handle them. Besides, it's not like they have powers, well sort of," said Paige.

"Just…be careful. You're already dead in my future; don't let it happen now too."

He was already half way through the ceiling when they realized what he had said and yelled, "We're WHAT!"

After Chris's little visit, the girls were on edge for a while. To get their minds off of things they decided to sit in on one of the classes they had on their list. It was unanimous that they would go and sit in the transfiguration class. They weren't exactly pleased with having to sit in on the other classes and pretend to write an article but they knew they had to keep up pretenses. They walked around the school for a while before asking a third year Hufflepuff where the classroom was. They got to the classroom any found it empty (they had made sure to leave early). They sat all the way in the back so they wouldn't disturb anyone. 

After a few minutes, the students started filing in. They couldn't help but notice that it was the Gryffindors and the Slytherins again. No one saw them as they all sat down and waited for their professor. Just as the last students were coming in, McGonagall entered looking as stern as ever. 

"Since it is the beginning of the term, we shall start of with something simple. You will be transfiguring your desks into shields. Like so," she turned to her own desk and said, "_Armorus protego_." Her desk looked like it was melting. It bended and twisted itself until finally, what lay on the floor was no longer a desk but a large silver shield. "Much like the patronus charm, all of your shields will take different forms. You may begin."

Everyone stood up and began trying to do the spell. Many of the students only managed to change their desks color on their first attempt. It took Hermione three tries before a large bronze shield with the Gryffindor crest engraved on the front of it replaced her desk. The Slytherins looked at her enviously. 

"Oh, look…the mudblood has managed to find her self some protection. Too bad there's no stopping an unforgivable," Draco drawled loud enough for Hermione to hear but not McGonagall. Unfortunately for Draco, Harry, Ron, and the sisters also heard. After one more try he was also able to transfigure his desk. His shield was much larger than Hermione's. It was silver, and had a large snake engraved on the front. The snake's eyes were so green, they could only be emeralds. He smirked at Hermione brandishing his shield.  

"What does he mean by 'unforgivables'?" whispered Phoebe. Piper and Paige shrugged.

"I want to try the spell," Paige wined.

Piper shook her head. She didn't want anyone to know they were there. But before she could give Paige her reason, she was already half way through saying the spell. The desk changed and with a loud squeal, Piper and Phoebe fell to the floor. The entire class including McGonagall turned around to see Paige helping Piper and Phoebe up. 

"Paige!" Piper yelled irritably. 

"Ow!" was all Phoebe said as she rubbed her backside. 

Next to the girls was a four foot wooden shield with a black triquetra on the front that looked as if it had been burnt on. McGonagall, far from looking angry, looked rather amused and said, "Well done, Professor Halliwell. Would you two like to try as well?" Piper and Phoebe nodded. 

Everyone spent the rest of the class concentrating on their shield. By the end only a hand full of people hadn't succeeded. Harry's shield was magnificent. It was at least five feet long and made of solid gold. It was encrusted with rubies and had a large lion on the front that really roared. Piper's shield was silver with a pearl handle and pearl accents. Hers too had the triquetra on it but in inlaid marble. Phoebe's shield was a shiny onyx (black) and the triquetra was inlaid in gold on the front of hers. Everyone marveled at the charmed ones shields and how they all had the same symbol on it. By the end of the class, McGonagall was very impressed. 

After transfiguration, it was time for dinner, which went by uneventful. After dinner the girls returned to their rooms. They were having hot chocolate and talking about their shields when Phoebe suddenly grabbed her head in pain and fell to the floor. 

Several floors below, Harry was doing the same thing. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope that was okay! Did anyone see the new episode on Sunday? I was so excited that it was a new one. I won't say anything in case some one didn't see it, but if you do want to talk about it put it in your review or email me. I might not be able to update for a while, but don't worry I am not abandoning this fic. I would never! So please be patient with me and don't give up on it. I'm just very busy with school, which is ending for me in like two weeks, and I have other stories to update too. Please stick around to see where this goes. Thanks for reading!

*Jarie1019* 0;)     


	7. Come Again?

This chapter is probably going to be very short because I am extremely angry. I had practically the WHOLE thing typed out and then the stupid computer tells me it has to close the program and the information will be lost. Damn you, you piece of crap! Now I have to start all over again. Now that I'm done rating, here we go again. 

A/N: Sorry if this chapter is a little violent, but like I said…I'm mad! :(

Disclaimer: I am too mad to actually put one in because if anyone is actually dumb enough to think I own two humongous franchises like Charmed and Harry Potter and I am writing fanfiction, you truly need psychological help. J 

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Chapter 7 (AGAIN!) 

Phoebe was rolling on the floor in pain and clutching her head. She felt as though someone were drilling a hole in her head. 

"Phoebe what's wrong?" Piper asked worriedly as her and Paige tried to get Phoebe back onto the couch. 

"Should we call Leo?" asked Paige. 

"I don't know what there is to heal," said Piper. "Just get a cloth and some ice from the fridge." As soon as she had said it, however, they had appeared at her side. "Oh right, I forgot about that."

She put the ice in the cloth and applied it to Phoebe's head, but only after she had pried Phoebe's hands away from her head. Piper was surprised to see the faint outline of a scar on Phoebe's forehead. Why did that look so familiar? 

After a few minutes, Phoebe calmed down. She lied down on the couch and kept her eyes closed as she held the ice to her head. 

"I felt like my head was on fire, only…worse. It felt like someone was reading my brain. Is that possible?" 

"Do we even need to ask that? When it comes to us…anything is possible," said Piper. 

"Maybe we should go see Dumbledore," said Paige. The three of them put on their robes and headed out the door, down their hall and through the portrait hole to try and find the headmaster's office. 

*Gryffindor common room

"Aaahhh!!!!" Harry yelled as he clutched his scar. It felt like someone was beating him over the head with a baseball bat. 

Ron nearly fell out of bed at the scream, as did Dean, Neville and Seamus. Ron quickly went to Harry's bedside. When he saw Harry holding his scar he took a piece of cloth, wet it with cool water and put it on Harry' s head. "Neville, go get McGonagall. Quick!" Neville ran out of the common room as fast as they had ever seen him run…ever. 

By the time McGonagall got there, which was rather fast, Harry had visibly calmed down. McGonagall looked at him before saying, "How are you feeling?"

"Better," said Harry shakily. 

"Good, come with me. Mr. Weasley, you and the others stay here and go back to bed." 

They begrudgingly obeyed though they knew that they would not be able to sleep. They knew that whenever Harry woke in the middle of the night screaming and grabbing his scar, it was never a good thing. 

McGonagall walked Harry to Dumbledore's office and was surprised to see the sisters waiting in front of the stone gargoyle. 

"We need to see Dumbledore right away," said Paige. 

"Alright, step aside. Chocolate frog." She said the password and they all entered. 

When they reached Dumbledore's office, he didn't seem too surprised to see them. In fact there were chairs for all of them to sit in. 

He said nothing for a few seconds. Then he looked at Harry and asked, "What happened?"

"Well…I was sleeping, then my scar started to hurt. I think he's happy. I think he found out something he wanted to know."

Dumbledore nodded gravely. "I suspected as much. And Phoebe, am I right to assume you had a similar experience?"

Phoebe nodded. "We were just talking when all of a sudden my head started to hurt. It felt like some one was reading my brain, like, like-

"Like your head was going to split in two?" Harry supplied dully. Phoebe nodded again. 

"Wait, what could Voldemort find out that would make him happy?" Paige asked.

"I am afraid that I can only give you a theory. I believe that Voldemort already knows that you are here to help Harry defeat him. It is my opinion that he will try to find your weaknesses and use them against you. He will try to find out your greatest fears and make you surrender to them."

"How in the world is he going to find all of this out?" asked Piper. 

"This is where it gets slightly confusing," said Dumbledore. "Harry is connected to Voldemort through his scar, and you are connected to him through your power, so therefore you are also, somewhat, connected to Voldemort. I believe that he will try to use that connection to gather information about you and your sisters."

"So in other words, he's going to read her mind and get the dirt on us?" asked Piper. 

"Yes, exactly. What worries me is that you, Harry, said he was happy which means that he has already found out something that he believes will be useful." 

"Isn't there anything I can do to stop him from reading my mind?"

Harry looked up wide eyed at Dumbledore because he knew what the answer would be. "There is a way, but it is very difficult. You will have to be prepared to relive some of your worst memories…occlumency." 

"Come again?" said Piper. 

After Dumbledore had explained to them what occlumency was, Phoebe was a little reluctant to try it. She was even more reluctant when she found out that Snape was the one who would be teaching her. Also, the look on Harry's face when Dumbledore said that he too would have to take the lessons again was enough to make Phoebe's heart break. Could the lessons really be that bad? She had no idea what she was in for. 

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Well that's all for now. I told you it would be short. I promise the next chapter will be longer…if my computer isn't retarded. I need some help from you guys though. I need a list of memories that Phoebe can have…I already have quite a few, but if you have a particularly good one from and old episode or something that would be great. I want Snape to see some really good stuff so he can see what they've been through. Particularly, Cole memories would be good. Thanks for reading and please review or I might have to cast a spell to make you review. Muuaahahaha!

*Jarie1019* 0;) 


	8. Dreams and Premonitions

I am back for another update. Thank you so much for all of the GREAT ideas. You guys really know your Charmed episodes. Here we go!

A/N: Just a reminder, Phoebe's premonitions will be in italics. But just so you don't get confused, she has a dream in this chapter that is also in italics. The first italics you come across are her dream, the second is her premonition. Hope that cleared it up!

Disclaimer: Well, we'll get on with it after this pointless thing. You know the drill…and if you don't then here's a reminder…I own NOTHING. Sadly yes I know.

Chapter 8

"Headmaster are you sure this is a good idea?" said a very disgruntled Snape who was sitting in a chair across from Dumbledore.

"Yes, Severus. It is the only thing that will stop Voldemort from gaining further information on the sisters," Dumbledore explained again.

"I understand that but is it really necessary for me to _attempt_ to teach Potter again?" Snape prayed he could get out of this.

"You know as well as I do that Harry is still vulnerable to Voldemort's tricks."

"But he made little if no progress the last time I tried," said Snape through gritted teeth. "He didn't even try."

"You don't know that. I am sure that he tried his best. Just remember, Severus…Harry is not James." Dumbledore said these last words almost warningly.

"Very well," said Snape as he got up to exit the office.

"Oh, and Severus? It would help if you tried to be a bit more…understanding. Keep in mind that you are seeing their worst memories. How would you feel if the situation were reversed?"

Snape visibly paled and Dumbledore was satisfied that he had at least gotten through to him somewhat, so he turned back to a piece of parchment that he had been working on before Snape had arrived.

"Phoebe are you sure you want to go through with this?" Paige asked concerned.

"How can you even ask that? Of course I'm sure. It's the only way to keep us safe. Who knows what Voldemort has already seen."

"Yeah but Phoebe, you heard Dumbledore. You'll be reliving some of your worst memories. What if you see Mom or Grams or P-"

Phoebe cut Piper off. "I have to do it…for our own safety."

At that moment, Leo orbed into the room with Wyatt.

"Leo? What's going on? Is something wrong? Is it a demon?"

Then Chris orbed in. "And you guys call _me_ paranoid."

"Ha ha, very funny. Now what's going on?" said Piper.

"Nothing," Leo assured her. "Wyatt just misses him Mom. Don't you big guy?"

He put Wyatt on the floor and he walked to Piper who picked him up and held him tight. "Don't worry honey, Mommy will be home soon."

"You really think so, Mom?" said Chris hopefully.

Piper looked at him thoughtfully. "You called me 'mom'," she said with a small smile.

"Well you _are_ my mother," said Chris smirking.

"Don't smirk," said Paige annoyed, "You remind me of Draco."

"Who's Draco," asked Leo.

"Phoebe's boyfriend," said Piper who was playing with Wyatt.

"Piper!" said Phoebe embarrassed when Leo and Chris gave her a look.

"What?" said Piper innocently.

Phoebe had a very restless night. She had a lot of nightmares that she hadn't had in a long time. She tried to clear her head before going back to sleep but it wasn't working. The same nightmare kept haunting her dreams. Only now it was different. He was in the school.

__

Why is it so dark here at night, Phoebe wondered as she walked through the deserted halls. She happened upon the teachers room and walked inside.

Despite it being the middle of the night it there were several people inside. There was Snape, McGonagall, Sprout, Sinistra, even Trelawney. There was one person who she didn't recognize. All she could see was the back of their head. They were wearing long black robes and a hood was covering their head.

She walked cautiously towards the group of teachers and cleared her throat.

'Excuse me, but can someone tell me what's going on?'

The hooded figure turned slowly and with a gasp, Phoebe realized who it was.

'Phoebe honey, we were wondering when you would show up. Come join us.'

'N-no…it can't be. You're dead.' Phoebe gave another gasp as she realized that there were now demons where the teachers had been. Barbus (the fear demon), Tempus (who controlled time), Oren (the gypsy hunter), and even the vampire queen.

'But you're all dead! This can't be happening. Noooooooooooooo!!!'

Phoebe woke in a tangle of bed sheets, cold sweat covering her body.

"It was just a dream, it wasn't real……Cole's dead, they all are."

Phoebe was unusually quiet at breakfast the next morning. She jumped nearly a foot out of her seat when Snape started talking to her.

"Your first lesson will be tonight after dinner in my office…with Potter be sure to tell him," Snape said not even trying to hide the misery in his voice.

"Try not to sound so excited," said Phoebe equally as miserable. "And his name is Harry."

Snape went back to his breakfast looking especially sour.

After breakfast, Phoebe decided to tell Harry the news.

"Phoebe, don't forget we have class in fifteen minutes," Piper called out.

Phoebe made her way through the mass of students vaguely wondering why she didn't just wait until they had gotten to class to tell him.

"Harry," she called. "Harry!"

As always he was with Hermione and Ron. He turned around and looked almost afraid at what she was about to say.

"Just so you know, Snape is expecting us in his office after dinner for occlu-thing."

Ron and Hermione looked at Harry questioningly but he merely nodded and said, "See you in class, Professor."

Phoebe arrived in class to find a cauldron on each desk and a worried looking Piper at the desk while Paige was trying to comfort her.

"Sweetie, calm down you'll do fine," said Paige.

"But what if they hate me? And what if I screw up? I'll never be able to show my face here again."

"Phoebe a little help here," said Paige.

"Paige is right, Piper. They'll love you. There's no reason not to. Besides, you're doing a lesson on Cole…that's always interesting." Phoebe was now looking down at the floor, always a sign that something was up. They would have asked if the students hadn't started to come in.

One by one they all put a piece of parchment on the desk in front of Phoebe. It was a second before she realized that they were the essays she had asked for.

They all sat down and looked curiously at the cauldrons. Neville, not surprisingly looked a little scared so Piper flashed him a small smile and he calmed down a bit.

Phoebe and Paige started to look over the essays while Piper began her lesson. "Okay, is everyone here. Good. Today we are going to be working on a vanquishing potion for an upper level demon named Belthazar."

"Phoebe maybe you should leave while she talks about him," Paige whispered to Phoebe.

"I'm fine. I promise."

Piper explained to the class what Belthazar looked like and the different powers that he had. She walked around the class showing everyone the picture in the book. Most of the girls gasped at the red and black skin and some of the guys even grimaced.

Piper continued. "Now, I made a list of all the ingredients we'll need and the exact procedure you need to do. The ingredients are in the cupboard over there and you can break yourselves up into groups of three. Just a warning, when you add the flesh there tends to be a small explosion so you might want to back away."

"Excuse me professor, did you say _flesh_?" Hermione asked looking like she was about to be sick. Piper nodded. "Belthazar's flesh?" she asked. Piper nodded again.

"Blimey, how'd you get it?" asked Ron in amazement.

"We cut it off of him."

Everyone was looking at the sisters in amazement.

Piper walked around and gave everyone a sheet of parchment with the ingredients and the proper procedure on it. They all hurried to get the ingredients and set to work. As they worked Piper gave them tips for any potion. One of them was to add ice to help the potion to thicken. Hermione was mentally coping down all of the notes as she worked.

After about half an hour, an explosion was heard that made nearly everyone jump. Not surprisingly it was Hermione, Ron and Harry who had finished the potion first. Draco glared at the trio from his cauldron.

"That reminds me, when you're all done we will test each of your potions to see if you did it right," Piper said.

"And just how are we going to test it if Belthazar is dead," came Draco's drawling voice from over his cauldron, for Piper had told them all that they had vanquished Belthazar a while ago.

Piper gave him a look that rivaled McGonagall's. "We are going to test it on a piece of his flesh. If you did right, then the flesh will blow up. No messy clean up."

Piper walked back to the desk and Phoebe looked at her curiously. "Piper, how did you get so much flesh? I thought we only had a small piece."

"Well, I told Dumbledore what I planned to do and he did a spell to make the piece bigger. I think he called it an engorgement charm."

Within another half hour, there had been several more explosions which signaled that every group was done with the potion. Piper told them all to put a small amount into a vial and come up to the front of the room. One by one they did so and there was soon a circle of students with Piper in the middle holding the flesh. For each group she put a piece of the flesh in the middle of the circle and stepped aside. One by one a representative of each group threw the vial at the flesh, and bit by bit it exploded into nothingness. Piper took note of what each group's potion did and gave each group a grade. She was impressed at how good each of the potions turned out.

When everyone had gone Piper dismissed the class. Everyone left except for Harry, Ron and Hermione who had volunteered to help clean up. Piper and Paige left to return some ingredients to Snape while Phoebe supervised the cleaning.

They used a few simple spells to clean the cauldrons and put them away. When Phoebe had collected all of the essays they headed for the door.

"Oh, wait, I almost forgot the book. Piper would kill me." She handed the stack of essays to Ron and went to get the book. When she went to close it she gasped and it fell on the floor.

They saw her reach for the book and when she touched it she gasped, closed her eyes and went very still.

__

It was the teacher's room. She walked inside and was nearly blinded by the light streaming through the open window. When her eyes focused and she was able to see, she screamed at the sight.

'Cole NO!' she screamed as he sent an energy ball straight at McGonagall who caught it straight in the chest and crumpled to the ground.

'I'm sorry Phoebe. He told me I had to do it…for us.'

Phoebe gasped as the premonition ended. She found three very wide-eyed and concerned students staring at her.

"Professor, are you okay?" asked Hermione worried.

Phoebe stared at them. For a second she had forgotten where she was.

"No…I'm not."

She grabbed the book and headed out of the door with the trio following her. They followed her all the way to the corridor where they lived. They recognized it as the corridor where the Room of Requirement was and they were surprised to see it closed off by a portrait of a house and the three sisters sitting on the front steps.

"Book of Shadows," she said impatiently. She had completely forgotten that the three were following her.

She went to the door and opened it.

"Piper! Paige!" she yelled.

Harry, Ron and Hermione walked in hesitantly and gasped at the house they were in.

Piper came from the kitchen and Paige came down the stairs. Piper spoke first. "Hey guys, what are you-"

"Piper I had a premonition," Phoebe cut her off.

"What'd you see?" asked Paige who was now at Piper's side.

"It's Cole…he's back."

"Who's Cole?" asked Harry thoroughly confused.

I hope that makes up for the shortness of the last chapter. I promise I will get to the occlumency in the next chapter…I hope. So if you have any more bad memories for Pheebs, I really appreciate it. I have some really good ones planned. Poor thing, I'm gonna put her through hell…but it's for the good of the story I guess. Lol! I wanted to thank **Ariana** for the whole Cole idea. Thanks! Please read and review.

P.S. I know he's dead, but I have an idea don't worry. I just hope it makes sense.

Jarie1019 0;)


	9. Occlumency or Lack There Of

For another I'm back for another chapter. Thanks again to everyone who reviewed. I hope you like this chapter. Just so you know. I tried to be as accurate as I could with the memories, so please don't bite my head off if they say something in the story that they didn't exactly say in the episode, I just wanted to get the general message across.

Disclaimer: Some lipsticks are red, but none of them are blue, I don't own any characters, how about you? 0;)

Chapter 9

"What!" said Piper even more confused than Harry was.

"Phoebe are you sure it was him," Paige said.

Phoebe gave her a look. "Of course I'm sure. He was in the teachers room and he killed, he killed McGonagall."

"Who killed McGonagall?" said Hermione very worried.

The sisters looked at them as if only just seeing them there. "What are you three doing here?" asked Piper.

"We followed her after she went all weird," explained Ron.

"We just wanted to make sure she was okay," said Harry.

Ignoring the three students they continued with their conversation. "Could you tell when it happened?" asked Paige.

"It had to be in the morning because it was really sunny."

Piper looked out of the window. "Well it's sunny now so we better go look."

"But Professor McGonagall has a class now. I remember because she asked me if I wanted to tutor one of her students in the class," said Hermione.

"Well then maybe it's tomorrow," said Phoebe. "Piper, do you have any more of the vanquishing potion left?"

"Plenty."

"Good, we'll have to get the crystals ready too." Phoebe looked more worried than she had in a long time. It did not help that in just a few short hours she was going to be reliving her worst memories with Snape.

"Now for you three," said Piper turning to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "You can't tell anyone our password, got it?"

"We promise," said Harry.

The sisters knew that they could trust them.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, unless you count Piper and Paige threatening Phoebe to tie her hands behind her back if she didn't stop biting her nails.

After dinner, Phoebe found Harry and together they walked to his office like two people condemned. She could tell by the look on Harry's face that he was dreading it just as much as she was, maybe even more so.

When they reached Snape's office, they knocked and heard a sharp, "Come in," from the other side of the door. They entered and Phoebe almost gasped at all of the horrible things he had in his room. She recognized some of the ingredients but the other things floating in the jars nearly made her gag.

"Both of you have a seat," said Snape as though that was the last thing he wanted them to do.

Phoebe had to hold back the urge to kick Snape because her empath powers were picking up Harry's utter loathing of him. She was also surprise to feel a not so small amount of hate directed towards Harry as well.

"Before we start, I think it would be a good idea if both of you tried to empty your minds and yourselves of any emotions and memories."

Harry gave a soft snort as if to say, "Like that's going to help at all."

Phoebe however did as she was told and tried hard to think of nothing. The problem is, when you try to think of nothing you end up thinking about the exact things you want to forget.

After a few moments Snape spoke again looking at Phoebe. "Occlumency is quite difficult to master but it will be worth it in the long run, that is _if_ you manage to learn it," he said throwing an angry glare at Harry who returned it ten fold. "Would you like to go first, Professor?"

Phoebe nodded. _I might as well get it over with. Besides, how bad could it be. It's just a few memories. Not like I haven't lived through them before._

"Very well then. Stand up." She did. "Now when I cast the spell try to block me out of your mind using your own mind. You can use your wand if you have to but try to rely on your mind."

Phoebe pulled out her wand and was about to ask how exactly she was supposed to use her mind to block out his mind, but Snape was already halfway through counting down.

"Two, one, legilimens!" he said.

Phoebe was standing in a room tied to a metal stake. Piper had frozen everyone.

"Come on Phoebe we have to get you out of here," she said.

"No. I killed that man. I have to do this. It has to end with me," said Phoebe now in tears.

Prue was also in tears, "But Phoebe…"

"It's okay. Maybe we weren't supposed to stop it. Maybe we were just supposed to say good-bye," she said as she hugged her two sisters.

Piper and Prue backed away crying and Phoebe nodded. "I love you."

The room unfroze and Phoebe was enveloped in the flames.

"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!"

Phoebe was laying face up on the cold stone floor of Snape's office. She was panting and she felt as though she really had just burnt at the stake…again.

Snape was looking at her wide-eyed. "How- why are you-was that real?" he stuttered.

Harry had never seen Snape at a loss for words before and wondered what on earth he had just seen while he helped Phoebe up.

She rubbed her head slightly before answering shakily. "It happened in the future. It's a long story."

Snape gaped at her for a second more before saying, "You have to try and keep me out of your thoughts. Are you ready to try again?" Phoebe nodded; she was determined to get this right. Then Snape said the spell again.

"What'd you find out about the fortune teller?" asked Phoebe earnestly.

"Not much unfortunately sweetie, she was murdered. And from what I gathered it seems demonic, she had her eyes gouged out," answered Paige.

"Oh my God. I should have been able to stop this."

"Honey, don't say that. It's not your fault."

"If my stupid powers had been working I would have been able to save her."

The scene faded out and the next one was of Phoebe in the attic crying and looking at the Book of Shadows (the Belthazar page).

"Why Cole," she whispered.

At that moment a banshee crashed through the window and screamed her blood curdling scream in Phoebe's face. Piper came in with Leo and blew up the banshee.

Leo turned to Piper and said, "We have a problem. A banshee's scream kills regular people, but it turns witches into banshees."

They turn to look at Phoebe who is now a banshee in a long white dress and has long white hair.

She is now in the cemetery fighting Belthazar. He turns back into Cole and says, "Phoebe, I still love you."

She screamed and turned back into Phoebe. "This doesn't change anything Cole."

Snape ended the spell out of sheer shock. He would have ended it sooner but he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Phoebe was sitting on the chair because Harry had caught her before she hit the ground. She was shaking like mad and her eyes were still closed.

"Professor, professor…Phoebe wake up," said Harry.

Phoebe opened her eyes and looked at Snape wearily. "How much of that did you see?"

"Most of it," he answered. "You were a banshee?" he asked incredulously.

"Only for a little while," said Phoebe desperately trying to lighten the mood without much success.

"I think that is enough for you. Mr. Potter shall we give this a try…again. I expect you to do better than Prof. Halliwell here as you have done it before, but I won't hold my breath."

Harry took a deep breath to try and calm himself and forget Snape's nagging words. He dreaded what he was about to see. That was his last thought as the spell hit him.

The prophecy smashed and broke into tiny pieces. Sirius went by dueling furiously with Bellatrix.

"Is that the best you've got, cousin?" said Sirius smiling.

The next spell hit him square in the chest and he fell back with a look of mixed surprise and fear.

"Sirius, NOOOOOO!!!" Harry yelled.

Harry was off and after Bellatrix. They were in the entrance of the ministry and Harry wanted to stop her form getting away. He wanted to cause her as much pain as possible.

"CRUCIO!" he yelled.

Bellatrix yelled then soon stopped. "You have to mean it Potter. You have to want to cause the pain and enjoy it," she said wickedly.

Voldemort was there. He thought his head was going to split in two. Voldemort was inside him.

"If death is not the worst thing then kill us both," Voldemort said to Dumbledore.

"Kill me," pleaded Harry. "Please, Dumbledore, do it. I'll be with Sirius."

For the second time that night Snape had ended the spell out of pure shock. He could not believe that Potter had actually wanted Dumbledore to kill him.

Just as before. Phoebe had moved the chair so that Harry fell on top of it and not on the floor. Her empath powers had let her feel what Harry had been feeling and though she could not see what was happening, she felt every second of it.

Snape was looking at the two people in front of him with mingled shock and sympathy. Yes, he felt sorry for Harry. He had felt what Harry felt when he had been possessed. He had also felt the flames on his skin when Phoebe had burned.

He walked over to his cupboard and pulled out two small vials. He handed one to Harry and one to Phoebe.

"Here this will calm you down and help you get some sleep. You are to come back tomorrow. Try to clear your minds before you go to sleep and before you come here. It might even help if you talked about what went on today. I think that is all we will do for tonight. Professor, may I have a word with you?"

Harry got up and gave Phoebe a sympathetic smile before he left.

Professor Snape looked at a loss for words. He truly didn't know what to say.

"Everything that I just saw…actually happened?" he asked looking at Phoebe intently.

"Yup, everything. And that's not even half of what we've been through," she said grimly.

"That last memory, was that, were you …with that demon?"

"Don't you think that's a little personal?" said Phoebe now feeling calmer because of the potion. Then she decided that it wasn't such a big deal so she told him a very abbreviated version of what happened. "He was only half demon, I thought he was good. He was bad at first but then he was good so I married him. But then he was bad again and we had to vanquish him twice. Then he came back but we killed him for good." She stopped with a worried look on her face remembering her last premonition.

"Is there something wrong?"

"N-no, everything's fine," she said trying to sound cheery.

"Would you like to try again now that Potter is gone?"

She looked hesitant at first but then decided that the sooner she learned the better. "Okay."

Snape said the spell and the memories that came made Phoebe instantly regret it.

There was a worried looking woman on a dock in front of a lake. She had some electrical cords in her hands. Then a creature came out of the water and the woman drowned.

"Nooooo! Mom!!!"

She was in the basement and Cole had just taken the nexus shadow into him.

"I need the nexus so you can come back to evil and we can be together," said Cole.

"Don't you understand? I hate you. You can do anything, hell you can even turn me evil again, but I will never come with you willingly."

"But Phoebe…"

"I am light. I am one too strong to fight. Return to dark were shadows dwell, you cannot have this Halliwell."

Cole was swallowed up into the earth only to return a few seconds later.

"I thought you were dead," said Phoebe.

"So did I for a second there. Not to worry I'll just keep trying."

"Cole don't you get it. I thought you were dead just now and I felt nothing. I'm free."

She was walking into the teachers room.

"Cole NO!!" she screamed as he sent an energy ball straight at McGonagall who caught it right in the chest and crumpled to the ground.

"I'm sorry Phoebe. He told me I had to do it…for us."

Snape ended the spell and looked at Phoebe who was on the ground shaking. He quickly walked over to her and helped her into a sitting position. He magicked a cold cloth and placed it onto her forehead.

"Thanks," she said shakily.

Snape was looking more and more worried by the second. "That last memory, that didn't happen…did it?

"Not yet. I had that premonition this morning. We think it's going to happen tomorrow morning."

"But I thought you said that he was dead."

"I know…we thought he was."

Okay, firstly, I know that some of those memories are not exactly how they happened but I had to tweak them a little. I hope it was okay. As for Harry's memory, I wrote it from memory then I looked at Ootp…it seems like I have a good memory, but I promise that I didn't plagiarize intentionally. This seemed to be a little jumbled but I hope it was at least mildly understandable. Please review if you have any suggestions. I really don't need any flames as it is already very hot where I live. Jarie1019 0;)


	10. Snakes in Strange Places

Hey! I'm SO sorry this took so long but I've been having a little trouble with this chapter. I just hope that it comes out okay. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters…but you knew that already didn't you.

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Chapter 10

Snape looked at Phoebe quizzically before saying, "Is there a chance that your vision could be wrong?"

"No. I get my premonitions for one reason and that's to stop them from happening."

"What makes you think that you will be able to stop him this time?"

"We have to, we just have to."

Phoebe left Snape's office with an awful feeling of dread. She was more worried than she had been in a long time. She wanted to be confident but how could she be? They had vanquished Cole so many times and he just kept coming back. They had been so sure it had stuck the last time, but her premonition had proved them wrong. _Is there a chance that your vision could be wrong,'_ Snape's voice said in her head. She wished it would be wrong but none of her visions had ever been wrong before so why would they start now?

She was walking up the stairs to their corridor when a gleam caught her eye from the floor below. She squinted her eyes to get a better look but saw nothing. She waved it off as her eyes playing tricks on her because she was tired, very tired so she kept walking.

On the floor below, a certain prefect had been patrolling the corridors when he saw Phoebe walking up the stairs looking very worn out and tired. '_Wonder why she's up so late,'_ he thought and he decided to follow.

Phoebe practically yawned the password when she got to the portrait. She walked inside and looked around the empty house. Clearly they had gone to bed. She contemplated sleeping on the couch so that she wouldn't have to walk all the way upstairs and in the end thought it a good idea. She thought up a blanket and pillow and settled herself in for the night. She went to sleep wishing that she could orb.

Draco stood looking at the portrait and wondering where it had come from. It looked so real, almost like a photograph. The sisters stood in front of a house and said 'password' all at the same time. Draco smirked as he remembered what Phoebe had yawned. "Book of Shadows," he said confidently. He thought he saw the Paige in the picture give him a glare but he quickly wiped it from his mind as the portrait swung open.

He walked along the corridor and remember it as the one where the Room of Requirement had been. He saw a door, which was the exact same door that had been in the portrait, and walked up to it. He turned the doorknob slowly and was surprised to see that the door was unlocked. He equally surprised to see the house when he walked in. However, nothing surprised him more than seeing Phoebe fast asleep on the couch.

'Oh, the possibilities,' he thought as he walked into the living room. He was surprised to see a television in the living room as well as a telephone. _What kind of witches are they,_ he thought as he continued through the house. He looked around at all of the pictures of the girls. _The pictures don't move, _he registered. He was starting to think that there was something off about the girls. _Maybe they're mudbloods, _he thought disgusted at the very thought. He walked through the kitchen and the conservatory before deciding to go upstairs. He put a silencing charm on his feet so that no one would hear him go up the stairs. He looked up and down the hall and decided to continue up to the attic.

He winced slightly as the door squeaked open and he walked inside. It was dark and dank. He lit his wand and began to look around. There were plenty of boxes filled with many things he did not recognize. One box had some odd strings in it with little light bulbs. The box also had many small glass orbs of different colors. He was starting to doubt whether or not the sisters were really who they said they were. _Daily Prophet reporters my ass, _he thought.

Then he spotted it. There sitting on a stand towards the back of the room was the Book of Shadows. He smirked evilly as he approached it. He went to grabbed it and almost gave a gasped as it flew off of the stand and hit the floor with a loud thud.

Unfortunately for Draco, the sisters were light sleepers. Piper heard the noise and was up almost instantly. She went to Paige's room and woke her. They went to Phoebe's room and when they didn't see her there they began to worry.

"Maybe it's her in the attic," Paige suggested.

"Yeah, and maybe Snape will wash his hair," said Piper.

Draco remained calm as he heard the footsteps coming up the stairs. He looked for a place to hide and decided that behind the old couch would have to do.

The girls walked in and saw the book on the floor.

"Don't tell me someone's after the book here too?" said Paige picking it up.

"When is someone _not_ after the book, Paige," said Piper looking around.

"Something doesn't feel right," said Paige walking towards the couch.

Draco started to panic as he heard her come closer.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," said Piper as she too began to walk towards the couch.

He did the only thing he could think of, which was something very foolish, but hey he was desperate.

"Stupify," he whispered pointing his wand at himself. He hit the back of the couch with a soft thud causing Paige and Piper to jump back.

"I think the couch is alive," said Paige.

"Don't be paranoid. We've never had furniture attack us before," said Piper.

"What about that time with the chameleon?" recalled Paige.

"Oh. Good point. Come out now and maybe I won't blow you up," said Piper.

They reached the couch and looked behind to find the last thing or person they expected.

"Draco!" Paige nearly screamed.

"What the hell is he doing here," asked Piper.

"I have no idea, but whatever it is…it can't be good."

Paige orbed Draco downstairs while Piper walked and they were surprised to see Phoebe sleeping on the couch, but not as surprised as Phoebe was to see an unconscious Draco lying on the ground.

"What happened?" she asked as they moved him onto the couch.

"We have no idea. We heard a noise from the attic and when we went upstairs to check it out we found him behind the couch like this," Paige explained.

"Paige thought the couch was alive," Piper said smiling.

Phoebe gave Paige a look. "It could have been," said Paige defensively.

"Well, he doesn't look hurt," said Piper looking the teen over. "I mean, he's not gushing blood, which is always a good sign."

"I think he's just knocked out," said Phoebe.

"Yeah, but how did he get in here in the first place. And why was he in the attic?" asked Paige. She did not, would not, and could not trust Draco.

"Let's wake him and find out," said Piper.

"How?" asked Phoebe.

"Got water?" asked Piper smiling. She thought up a glass of water and proceeded to dump it on Draco's face.

After he had sworn for about three minutes straight he looked up to see three very amused faces staring at him. "That was cold," he said glaring at each of them in return.

"Well warm water wouldn't have worked nearly as well," said Paige with a smirk to rival even Draco's.

"What are you doing in our house?" asked Piper all amusement gone from her face.

Draco did some quick thinking as only he could. "You'd think a guy would at least get a 'thank you' after saving your precious book," he said slyly.

"What do you mean you saved our book?" asked Phoebe ignoring the smile he was trying to give her.

He choose his words carefully so that he wouldn't get caught in his lie. "Well, I was patrolling the halls because I am a prefect and I saw someone headed up the stairs wearing a big cloak so I decided to follow in case it was a student out of bed. I reached the hall and I heard him say the password and go through. I thought he looked suspicious so I followed him."

"Wait, you said it was man?" interrupted Phoebe. "What did he look like?"

"I was getting to that," he said rather annoyed at being interrupted. He was on a roll. "I followed him up the stairs and into the attic."

"Didn't you see Phoebe lying on the couch?" Paige asked suspiciously.

"No. I was too busy trying not to be heard. Like I was saying, I followed him into the attic and I saw him go towards the book. When he tried to grab it fell off of the stand. At that point I asked him exactly what he thought he was doing and that's when he punched me. I guess I landed…where did you find me?"

"Behind the couch," supplied Piper not sure she believed him.

"Well, then I guess I landed behind the couch. I couldn't see much of his face, it was quite dark, but he was a rather ugly bloke from what I saw. I've never seen someone that large. Well, unless you count that complete oaf, Hagrid, but he wasn't nearly as large as him." Draco finished his story quite proud of himself.

They did not know whether to believe him or not. As much as they didn't want to, they had to admit that they had no reason not to believe him. But they also couldn't ignore what their gut told them, as it had saved them many times.

They told him that in the morning they would all go to Dumbledore so that he could tell the headmaster too. In the mean time they told him, or rather they threatened him, not to tell anyone their password. After he left, they decided that they had better change it.

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They couldn't really sleep the rest of the night as they had to go investigate the teachers room early that morning anyway.

The sun had barely risen and they were on their way. They walked in and found an empty teachers room. Phoebe pointed out that it was still pretty early so they sat there and waited.

As soon as the sun began streaming through the windows, McGonagall showed up in the teachers room. She was very surprised to see the sisters there so early.

No sooner had she walked in than the girls attacked her with question after question.

"Why are you here so early?"

"Wouldn't you rather be in bed?"

"You look like you could use a vacation."

McGonagall simply had to put a hand up in the air to silence them.

"And a good morning to you too professors."

"You don't understand, you're in danger and you have to leave," said Phoebe urgently.

"Danger, what danger?" said McGonagall perplexed.

At that moment Snape walked through the door. "It is true, Minerva. I saw you being attacked and killed in this very room. Or rather Ms. Halliwell saw it in one of her visions and I just happened to pick it up through occlumency," he explained.

She looked very confused but frightened all the same.

"Perhaps we should search the room," suggested Snape.

They all began looking around. Phoebe headed towards what looked like a wardrobe closet and opened it up.

"AAHH!!" she screamed as Cole climbed out.

"Hello Phoebe. It's been a long time hasn't it, sweetie?" he said. Then he turned into Belthazar.

"Piper quick the potion!" she yelled.

Piper threw the potion at Cole but there was nothing more than a small explosion.

"What now?" asked Piper.

"Blow him up!" said Paige as Belthazar turned to her.

Piper was about to blow him up when to everyone's surprise he began to melt. At least that's what it looked like anyway. He became skinner and smaller until all that was left was a massive snake curled on the floor near Piper's feet. Now it was her turn to scream.

"Get away! Shoo!" she yelled as she took several steps back. Then without warning she blew it up. "I hate snakes."

"Be that as it may, Piper, that was no snake. Nor was it Belthazar. _That_ was a boggart," said Snape.

"A _what_?" asked Piper.

"A boggart. It is a creature that takes the shape of whatever it is you fear most," McGonagall explained, not yet registering what had just happened.

No one knew what to say, but Phoebe for one was relieved. "That means he's not really alive," she said to no one in particular.

"Then who did Draco see in the attic?" Paige asked.

"Draco?" asked Snape. "What does he have to do with this?"

"Good question," said Piper, "Really good question."

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Well, that's all for now. I hope you liked it and I hope that made up for the lack of updates. I have a question: what would you rather have? A jerk Draco that tries to make the sisters miserable or a Draco that slightly reforms, tries to help out, but still keeps his charming selfish ways? Just wondering. Also, do you think Snape should have a crush on one of the sisters…if so who? I was thinking about it but I'm not really sure. I'm leaning towards Phoebe but it's not a definite and just because he likes her doesn't mean that she'll return the sentiment. Paige is too young and Piper, well, PIPER AND LEO 4-EVER!!! Lol! Well thanks for reading and now you know what to do…please review!!!


	11. The Object of Objection

Hey, I'm back again. I think I'm going to be able to update more often seeing as how I have finished my other two stories already. Yay! Anyway…here's another update and I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: Simon says…I don't own anything. Stupid Simon. :(

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Chapter 11

Draco was quite proud of himself at being able to fool the sisters into believing his story. He had always felt like lying was one of his best assets, along with being devilishly handsome and rich of course. At the moment he was enjoying his breakfast in the Great Hall when he saw the sisters walk in with Snape and McGonagall. _Well that's an unlikely group_, he thought as he drank his pumpkin juice. As they got closer it was obvious that they were headed his way. Sure enough they all walked up to him causing all attention in the hall to be directed his way.

"Draco, a word if you please," said Snape.

"Of course, professor," he replied in his most pompous voice as he got up from the table.

They all exited the hall with Draco close behind. He did not know where they were headed until he saw the big stone gargoyle that told him he was about to go to Dumbledore's office. _Uh oh,_ he thought briefly.

They all ascended the staircase and entered to find the headmaster sitting at his desk sipping some tea and looking very content.

"Good morning to you all," he said jovially as he conjured some chairs for everyone to sit at. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this meeting?"

"Well, _someone_ broke into our house last night and tried to steal our book," Paige began before anyone else could get a word in.

"I see. That is most unfortunate. Did you happen to see who it was?" he asked frowning slightly.

"No, but Draco here did. Why don't you tell him what you told us," said Piper.

So Draco recounted his story for the headmaster, McGonagall and Snape. To the sisters' surprise it was the exact same story he had told the night before. He had not changed a single detail.

Then the Phoebe told Dumbledore about her premonition and about what had happened that morning in the teacher's room.

"We were sure that if anyone was after the book it would have been him. It wouldn't be the first time he tried. But like I said before it wasn't him, it was only a braggert," Phoebe finished.

"I think you mean 'boggart', Phoebe," said Paige.

"Oh," she said blushing slightly. Dumbledore gave her a smile.

"Well, I am afraid that this can mean two things. One, either someone else is after you book or two, Mr. Malfoy here is being less than truthful." Dumbledore looked at Draco intently and the blond found it very unnerving. He shifted in his seat.

"Well, Draco," Snape prodded. "Care to retell your story or would you like me to fetch some veritaserum?"

"Veri-what?" Piper asked.

"Veritaserum, the most powerful truth potion known to wizard kind. Need I remind you, Draco that one drop will have you spilling your deepest and darkest secrets?" replied Snape threateningly.

Draco glared at his supposed favorite professor. "That won't be necessary, professor. I did it," he said barely above a mumbled whisper.

"When you talk it helps if you actually move you lips you know," said Piper.

"I did it," he said now glaring at her. "I saw Phoebe-

"Excuse me, that's Professor Halliwell to you," Phoebe interrupted him. "Go on."

"I saw _Professor Halliwell_ last night and I decided to follow her," he said through gritted teeth. "I heard her say the password and I followed. I went up to the attic and when I saw the book I thought I'd have a little look. You know the rest," he said looking at no one.

"It seems like curiosity got the better of you, Mr. Malfoy," said Dumbledore.

"Yeah well, curiosity killed the cat," Piper said a bit annoyed that Chris had been right about the Slytherins after all.

"What cat?" said Draco confused. "Mrs. Norris," he said with a hopeful look in his eye.

"It's just a saying. You know like 'don't count your chickens before they hatch' and 'the grass is always greener on the other side.'" Paige was met with blank stares from the wizards in the room. "Never mind."

"Then I suppose it is up to the professors to decide your punishment," said Dumbledore.

"Fifty points from Slytherin and a week's worth of detention," said Snape icily. He was very embarrassed for what Draco had done, as if the Slytherins didn't already have a bad enough reputation. Snape looked at the sisters expectantly.

"Oh yeah, I forgot we can do that too. Fifty points off and one nights detention," said Piper.

"Only one night," said Draco surprised.

"Oh don't you worry, we'll keep you plenty busy. Besides you'll probably need your energy for your detention with Prof. Snape," said Paige cheerfully.

Five very happy professors and one very murderous student left the headmasters office that morning.

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The rest of the day flew by without incident as did the rest of the week. Pretty soon it was time for Paige's first shot as teacher. Surprisingly, she was not at all nervous.

"Well we know the kids by now and their really not that bad, well most of them anyway," she said remembering that Draco was in the class.

They arrived in the classroom fifteen minutes early to find three students already there. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting at the very front desk of the class right in front of the teacher's desk.

"Hey guys, why are you here so early," said Phoebe as they walked in.

"We heard what happened with Malfoy. Is everything alright?" said Harry concerned.

"Everything's fine, wait how'd you hear about that," asked Piper.

"News always travels pretty fast around here, especially when it's supposed to be a secret," Hermione said smiling.

"I can't believe that bloody wanker was after you book," said Ron disgusted.

"Yeah, well that's Malfoy for you," said Harry. "Rotten to the core."

"Maybe you should slap him again, Hermione. Remember, that was bloody brilliant," said Ron smiling a dreamy smile as he reminisced.

"Don't tempt me," she replied.

"Wait you slapped him?" Phoebe asked very amused.

"Yes, in our third year. I was just fed up with him and I had enough."

"You go girl," said Paige. "By the way, you guys are in for a very good lesson if I do say so myself." Hermione perked up instantly while Ron and Harry slunk down in their seats. "Now guys come on, what could be more interesting that writing your own spells," she ventured trying to entice them. When she recived no response she continued, "What about making unwanted things disappear?" Now she had their attention.

"Could we use it one Malfoy," Harry asked eagerly.

"What about all of the Slytherins?" asked Ron just as eager.

"I thought that would get their attention," said Paige satisfied. She would have replied but by now, the rest of the students were filing in.

After everyone was seated and the roll had been called, Paige began her very first lesson.

"Today I'm going to teach you how to write a proper spell. First I'll start off with a demonstration then I want to see how well all of you can write a spell. Don't worry, it'll be something simple. Now, who has something that they want to get rid of for good?"

This question sparked a lot of conversation. The two rival houses kept looking at each other and pointing out the different people they would want to be rid of. Draco and Harry were eyeing each other. Hermione saw Pansy staring at her with disgust an Pansy didn't even notice Parvati and Lavender staring at her. This is not exactly what Paige had in mind.

She whistled loudly to get everyone's attention again. "What I meant was does anyone have something about them that they would want to get rid of. Like a wart, a zit, a bruise…" she trailed off trying to think of other things.

"What about a scar," Harry asked hopefully.

"I don't see why that wouldn't work," said Paige.

"Harry you can't," said Hermione shocked that he had even brought it up.

"Why not," his anger was bubbling just beneath the surface.

"Because…you know, I mean we can't exactly talk about it right here," she said begging him to see reason.

"Why not," he said clearly getting angrier. "It's not like everyone doesn't know already."

"Hermione's right, Harry. This isn't the time or the place," said Ron hoping to stop his friend from exploding like usual.

"There will never be a time or place," he said through gritted teeth.

"So," Paige interrupted trying to divert attention from the trio. "How about those warts?"

Surprisingly, Pansy of all people raised her hand. "Um, Professor Halliwell I have something I want to get rid of," she said in a voice much unlike her own. It was quiet and slightly embarrassed.

"Actually it's Professor Matthews. It's a long story, come on down."

Pansy walked to the front of the class and held out her right hand. There on her middle finger was a wart about the size of a galleon. Everyone gasped, a few laughed, but everyone could see it, even those in the very back of the class. Pansy blushed because of those who were laughing.

"I'll have this gone in no time. Now everyone watch closely and listen to the arrangement of the words in the spell. '_Let the object of objection become but a dream, as I cause the seen to be unseen.'_

Paige finished the spell and as soon as she had a small glow appeared around Pansy's hand. When the glow faded, everyone gasped including Pansy. The wart was completely gone. There was no trace that one was ever even there. Pansy looked beside herself with glee and at the same time she looked like she had wanted to cry. "Thank you Professor," she whispered before going to sit down.

"And _that_ is how it's done," said Paige. "Now it's your turn. Under each of your desks there should be a small white pillow. I want each group to come up with a spell that will turn the pillow into a blanket. If you were listening to the arrangement of the spell I just used, you will have noticed that the subject of the spell comes first, the object of objection; followed by what you want the subject to become, a dream; and finally what you actually want the subject to do, in this case become unseen. Go for it."

Everyone set to work trying this new form of transfiguration. That's what the students saw it as, wandless transfiguration.

No one had noticed that Harry had carefully written down the spell on a piece of parchment and tucked it away into his robes. What was he going to do?

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Yay! Another chapter all done. I hope you liked it. Should Harry actually make his scar disappear and if so should he get it back or should it stay gone? Maybe the spell won't work on such a powerful curse scar. I haven't decided yet. Like I said in the beginning of this chapter, I will be able to update a lot more because this is my only story now that I have finished my other two. However, I do have an idea for a Hr/Dm fic that is really bugging me to be written. It's just clawing at the back of my head. Email me if you want the plot or review and leave your email if you want to hear my idea as I don't actually know if it's a good one. I'm fairly sure it's original but then again, what plot hasn't been used to get those to together? Please review, please review, please review!!!!

Jarie1019 0;)


	12. Draco's Detention

Here comes another chapter! Thanks to all those who reviewed and answered my questions. I'll take into consideration what everyone said and I hope you like the way the story goes.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except a love for the books and the show.

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Chapter 12

Draco didn't know which detention he was dreading more, Snape's or the sister's. But after his detention with Snape he thought it couldn't get any worse. Snape made him clean all of the cauldrons _without_ magic. Then he had to clean up the shelves that housed the ingredients and clean out some of the jars themselves, then he had to organize Snape's files…in short Draco had to clean the entire potions classroom using nothing but good old fashioned elbow grease.

After this torture he felt he could take anything the sisters would throw at him. Boy was he wrong.

The night of his detention he followed the sisters out of the Great Hall and to their portrait. They had obviously changed the password because they whispered it so that he couldn't hear. He grumbled a bit before following them inside.

Once inside the familiar entrance he looked at the sisters who each had devilish grins on their faces. _What have I gotten myself into_, Draco thought miserably.

"So…you have to do whatever we say?" said Phoebe smiling sweetly.

"Unfortunately," he mumbled under his breath.

"What was that?" asked Piper.

"Yes, Professor," he said curtly.

"Great, then you can start by putting this on." As Paige talked she pulled out from behind her something that made Draco gasp in horror.

"You can _not_ be serious!" he half yelled.

"Oh, but we are," said Phoebe. She walked up to him put it over his head and tied it in the back.

This was truly a sight to be seen. Draco Malfoy purest of the pureblooded wizards in a fluffy, frilly, lacey, pink… apron.

The girls laughed out loud at the sight of the blond teen. It's not everyday you see a sixteen year old boy in a pretty apron.

Draco looked about to kill. However, he did come to the conclusion that they were only doing this to embarrass him. Perhaps if he played along they would get bored and let him leave early.

Piper was the first to speak because she was the first to stop laughing. "Well don't you look adorable."

"Of course I do. I look good in anything," he said with his best smirk in place.

"Good then you won't mind if we take a few pictures," said Paige holding a camera in her hand."

He panicked for a second then decided how bad could it be. "On one condition," he said.

"And what would that be?" asked Piper suspiciously.

"As long as I get one with my three favorite professors," he said innocently.

"I don't see the harm in that," said Phoebe. "But who will take the picture?"

"Chris!" Piper called. Within a few seconds Chris had orbed into the living room.

"Bloody hell," Draco exclaimed.

Chris looked first at the girls then at Draco in the apron and burst out laughing. "Who is that?!" he was able to choke out between gasps.

Draco gave him a glare before Piper said, "This is Draco. He's one of our students and he decided to pay the attic a little visit and try and look at the book. Now he's here for detention." She talked casually as if this sort of thing happened everyday.

"Wait he tried to steal the book? Why didn't you get him expelled or something?"

Draco did not like this guy one bit. "Because, he won't do it again. Will you?" said Piper warningly.

"No professor," he said glaring at Chris.

"Well, remind me to never get on your bad side," said Chris.

"Can we just take the picture," said Draco moodily.

They arranged in front of Chris from left to right with Piper, Draco, Phoebe and Paige who had absolutely refused to stand next to Draco. Chris tried not to laugh as he took the picture (which was a Polaroid). When he handed it to Piper she promptly broke out laughing again.

Once that was done they handed Draco a list of everything he was supposed to do that afternoon. He practically had to clean the whole house, AND he had to cook. It's a good thing he had once seen some of the house elves cooking in the manor otherwise he would have no idea.

"What if he tries to poison us," Paige whispered to Piper while she looked at Draco who was in the kitchen. He had his wand out and over a pot and was trying to think of some spells that cooked food.

Paige walked over to Chris who kept looking at Draco and laughing. "I think you should keep an eye on him," said Chris trying to keep a straight face.

"You read my mind, dear nephew. Could you watch him and make sure he doesn't do anything he's not supposed to?"

"Sure thing."

Chris walked into the kitchen and sat at the table. "What are you doing?" he asked looking at Draco's confused face as he looked at he empty pot.

"I'm cooking," he said through gritted teeth.

"Really? And what exactly are you cooking…invisible soup?"

Draco whirled around and glared at Chris. "Who the hell are you anyway?"

Chris looked at his wand before saying, "I'm Chris. That's all you need to know."

"I knew that already. I meant how do you know _them_?" he said motioning towards the sisters who were in the living room talking.

"That's none of your business."

"Fine," and with that Draco turned back around to the pot. He muttered something and a big splash was heard.

"What did you just do?" asked Chris.

"I made the soup visible," said Draco looking quite proud of himself. He opened the cabinets to look for some bowls and instead found a lot of herbs and spices. Mandrake root, wormwood, ragweed, and many others. "What the hell," he said looking at everything. "I thought only Snape had this many potions ingredients."

Chris got up from the table and shut the cabinet door. He went over to another and pulled out three bowls. "You thought wrong," he said handing Draco the bowls.

Draco poured some soup into each bowl, put them on a tray and brought it out into the living room.

"Yum, soup," said Phoebe. "What kind is it?"

"Um, I'm not really sure. Tomato?" he guessed.

"Well why don't you taste it and let us know," said Paige looking at the soup as though it would attack any minute.

Draco took a spoon and filled it with soup. When he had tasted it he looked back at the bowls looking very disappointed. "Damn! I don't think you want to eat that," he said.

"Why not," said Piper.

"Because it's poison?" suggested Paige.

"No…because it's only water."

Everyone laughed except Paige.

"Can I leave now," he asked rather annoyed at being laughed at again.

"No way. You've only been here for half an hour," Piper consulted her watch. "Go clean something."

"Fine, but can I at least take this off," he said tugging at the apron. He looked at Piper because for some reason he thought she hated him the least compared to the other two.

Piper studied the boy in front of her and vaguely wondered what it would be like when Wyatt was that old. She shrugged. "Okay, you can take it off, but go clean."

Draco practically ripped the apron off. "Go clean what?"

"How about the basement?"

He shrugged. "Okay," it was just a basement. How bad could it be.

He saw how bad it could be when he went down there. He had never seen so much dust in his life. If he was allergic he surly would have dropped dead. Not far behind, Chris followed.

"What are you anyway? How did you do that…light thing?" Draco asked sweeping the floor and looking at Chris.

"Like I said before, that's none of your business."

"Why? What do you have to lose?" he pried further.

"Nothing. But I'm sure as hell not going to tell you anything about us. You're a Slytherin."

"To the core," he said proudly. "How do you know about the houses?"

"I did a little research when I found out my-the girls were going to be coming here. Seems like you people don't have such a good rep."

Draco shrugged and went on cleaning. He didn't really feel like talking about how almost every Slytherin went bad.

"Why did you want to take the book?" Chris asked catching Draco off guard.

"Oh come on, like you've never wanted to. Who doesn't want a book of spells?"

"I don't have to steal it. I can look at it all I want."

"Why? Wait let me guess…it's none of my business right?" he said annoyed.

"Damn straight," said Chris smiling. Maybe this kid wasn't so bad after all, he thought. "You know, you got off easy. If I know the sisters, your really lucky they didn't do something worse."

"Like what?"

"Oh, I don't know…like test potions and spells on you," he said casually.

"They wouldn't, they can't. Teachers aren't allowed," he said not so sure of himself.

"Well, they aren't really permanent teachers are they? They're just here to," he tried to think of the cover they were using, oh right, "to write that article." He was happy to see Draco look a little nervous. "So, will you be trying to get a glimpse of the book any time soon?"

Draco reluctantly shook his head.

The two walked back upstairs after Draco had swept all of the dirt into a pile and made is disappear.

The girls were giggling in the living room when the two arrived.

"Well," said Paige expectantly.

"Well what? It's clean isn't it. You can go check if you don't believe me," he said sharply. He really didn't like her. He just wanted to…

"Hey!" said Phoebe. "You apologize right now." She had felt exactly what Draco had wanted to do because of her empath powers.

"For what?" asked Draco incredulously.

"You know what," said Phoebe looking at Draco then nodding towards Paige. "Say it."

"A Malfoy never apologizes," he said stubbornly.

"Well a Malfoy better unless he wants a Halliwell to turn his hair pink…permanently," Piper said smiling. Chris let out a small chuckled and received a glare in return.

"I'm sorry," he said through gritted teeth while looking at Paige.

"For?" she prompted.

"For thinking that I wanted to, to, stun you."

"Stun me?" said Paige confusedly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Are you serious?" said Draco disbelievingly. "You know, _stupefy!"_ he yelled the spell and pointed his wand at one of the bowls that was still on the table. It broke into tiny pieces.

"Why you little-

"Paige," said Piper warningly.

"But he wanted to kill me!" she said exasperatedly.

"I did not!" he yelled back.

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"HEY!" Piper yelled getting their attention. "Paige, how old are you again?" she asked arms crossed.

Draco shot Paige a triumphant look. Until Piper turned to him. "And you…care to explain what that was about?"

"It was just a stunning spell. It would only have knocked her out," he said casually.

"Oh, is that all," said Paige.

"That's enough, Draco you can leave now."

"Finally," he said and headed towards the door.

Phoebe and Chris had been watching closely and trying not to laugh at the little exchange between Paige and Draco.

"I think I'll go now too," said Chris.

"What, no good bye for your dear old Mom?" said Piper.

"Bye Mom. Call me if you need anything." Then he was gone.

Draco tried to close the door as quietly as possible so that they wouldn't know he had heard. _Mom?! Piper's his mother? This is even weirder than I thought. I _will_ figure this out._

The lone Slytherin walked to his common room thoroughly confused and annoyed all in one. They are definitely not your everyday witches. They're more like muggles, yet they aren't. It was too confusing to think about. Maybe he should just ask his father if he's heard anything.

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Dun dun dun!!! I know this chapter did absolutely nothing to further the plot. Sorry! I promise it will move along faster from now on, I hope. I just really wanted to put some more Chris and Draco in here seeing as how I love them! Lol! I know Draco's evil but oh well. I hope it was at least funny. Please review!!! Much appreciated!

Jarie1019 0;)


	13. Mournful Tears

I decided to get my lazy butt to the computer and write the next chapter. Lol! Thanks so much for the reviews. Yaminy-grint4eva: thanks so much! I couldn't resist the apron thing. Dreamingmaggie: I'm glad you thought so. Aznxpiperxswann: I don't know if I'm going to have him spreading rumors but he's definitely going to ask someone. Pickles87: I'm glad you thought it was funny. In my opinion, Draco loves being in Slytherin but doesn't like being stereotyped as the next dark lord wanna-be. Oh and thanks for the idea, I think I might use it. Charmed Lassie: Thanks so much! Piper is my favorite and I find it really easy to write for her. She's so funny and I know she can pull off the sassy sarcastic comments. I don't think we've seen the last of Paige and Draco. SPASH Panther: I'll just say that he half learned his lesson.:).

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except a fluffy, frilly, lacey pink apron!

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Chapter 13

Harry sat up in his bead fumbling with a piece of parchment in his hands. It was very late, or very early depending on the way you looked at it. It was one o'clock in the morning, but Harry was far from asleep.

He looked over at his four roommates who were sleeping peacefully with out a care in the world. He envied them. He wished he could just have the normal stresses of a sixteen year old boy. School and girls, not kill or be killed.

He looked wearily at he parchment again. Should he or shouldn't he? He couldn't decide. After all his scar was a part of him. His parents had died trying to save him and this is what he had to show for it. His scar had been a helpful warning many times. Helpful yes, but painful. However, his scar had also been the reason for the disaster at the end of last year. His scar and his damned connection to Voldemort. It hurt his heart just to think about it. Hermione almost died, Ginny had broken her ankle, Ron had almost been strangled to death by a brain, Neville had gotten a broken nose along with a broken wand, Tonks had to go to St. Mungo's, and Sirius…

He stopped thinking about it, it hurt to much. He fought back the tears that threatened to spill freely onto his sheets.

All of them got hurt because of me, he thought miserably. _Because of me and my stupid scar. We'd all be better off without it._

He finally did what he had been threatening to do since twelve o'clock that night, he unfolded the piece of parchment and looked at the spell. Would it even work, should he even try it? There could be serious consequences if tried on such a powerful curse scar.

Great, now I'm starting to think like Hermione. Damn the consequences!

The truth was the scar had caused him more pain than he cared to think about. He could definitely do without a splitting headache every two minutes.

He looked at he spell again. He had to do it. He had to at least try. He did not want to be responsible for anyone else dying.

He reached into the drawer of his night stand and pulled out a small mirror. He looked into it while he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and whispered the spell. "Let the object of objection become but a dream, as I cause the seen to be unseen."

A small but bright glow appeared on his forehead around his scar when he had finished the spell.

He sat staring at the mirror with gaping eyes waiting for the glow to subside. When it did…

"HA HA!!!" he yelled triumphantly as he got up and jumped on his bed.

Ron fell out of his bed with a loud thump as the others woke up groggily to Harry's yell.

Harry quickly ran over to Ron's bed with a beaming smile on his face. "Ron look! I did it and it worked. My scar's gone!" he said as he pushed his hair back so that Ron could see.

"Bloody hell!" he exclaimed. "Harry…what did you do?" he asked shocked.

Harry instantly became annoyed at the tone of his voice. _He's talking like I did something wrong._ "I used the spell. The one we learned from Paige."

Ron opened his mouth to respond but closed it suddenly after he had gasped. He was gaping wide-eyed at Harry's forehead.

This annoyed him more. "Ron, what the hell are you staring at?"

He just pointed stupidly at Harry's forehead.

Harry went back to his bed and slowly picked the mirror up. He was almost afraid to look into it. When he finally decided that Ron was making a bid deal out of nothing he flipped over the mirror and looked into it.

He gasped.

It was back. His scar was back and it was…black. As black as if it had just been burned on. As black as the Dark Mark on a death eater's arm.

Harry touched the scar gingerly with his fingers. It felt fresh, new. How could this be?

"No," he whispered. He couldn't believe it. "NO!" This time he yelled which caused Ron to stumble as he tried to get out of the tangle that was his bed sheets.

Ron walked cautiously over to Harry's bedside and sat down next to him. He had his head in his hands. Ron put his hand on Harry's shoulder and gave him an encouraging squeeze. Harry violently shoved Ron, so hard that Ron actually fell off of the bed.

He sat at the edge of the bed gaping at Harry for the second time that night. Harry picked his head up and what Ron saw actually made him scuttle backwards a little.

Harry was angry, very angry. In fact he looked murderous. His eyes were blazing and he was actually shaking with rage. When he spoke his voice shook as much as he was. "Why," he started through gritted teeth, "why does everything have to be so difficult for me? Why can't anything ever be simple? Is that too much to ask…IS IT?!"

Ron stared at his best friend who was apparently having a meltdown. "Harry, I-I'm sorry but your scar is, is," he was at a loss for words.

Harry, however, had plenty of words. "Is what? Part of me? A gift? The last thing I have to remind me of my dead parents?! Don't you think I know that! This is a curse! You don't know what it feels like, no one does so I don't want any sympathy. I don't want to here 'oh Harry I'm so sorry and I understand what your going through' because no one knows and no on will ever understand. Not unless their whole family dies and they all almost get killed by Voldemort and end up disfigured! And to top it all off, as if I'm not enough of a freak already, as if this stupid scar isn't recognizable enough, it has to go and turn BLOODY BLACK!!"

He thought his throat was going to tear from screaming so loudly but he didn't care. He didn't care that Seamus and Dean were looking at him like he was crazy or that Neville looked like he was going to wet himself. He didn't even care that he was crying, although he wasn't exactly sure when it had started. He'd had enough with the miserable mess that his life was at the moment.

"That's right," he continued savagely, "don't say anything because there isn't anything that you or anyone else can say or do that will make me feel any better. No one has to live with the guilt that people have died because of them and that more probably will and that they'll probably end up dead too! What are you three looking at?!" he yelled looking at Dean, Seamus and Neville.

He had screamed himself hoarse and couldn't take their gaping eyes and shocked expressions any more. He went over to his trunk ripped the Marauder's map unceremoniously from within it and stormed out of the dorm. He was so heated that he forgot to take the invisibility cloak too.

As he pushed through the portrait the Fat Lady gave a loud snore and woke up. "Where exactly do you think you are going at such a late hour, young man?" she questioned.

Harry whirled on her tears still streaming and was able to ground out, "None of your bloody business."

"Well, really!" she said shocked as she watched Harry storm down the hall.

He wiped at his tears, but he was fighting a loosing battle. He might as well have tried to dry up the lake. He walked quickly though he didn't really know or care which way he was going. He lifted up his hand to wipe more tears when he turned a corner and WHAM! He had crashed into something and quickly fallen backwards.

The something he crashed into had given a scream of surprise and also fallen backwards.

"Ow," Piper said as she rubbed her head which had hit the ground.

"Watch where you're going!" Harry barked in a raspy voice before realizing who he was talking to.

"Harry?" she asked getting up.

He looked at her with wide eyes and mumbled his apology.

"What are you doing up this late?" she asked. When he turned and the moon lit up his face, she could see he had been crying…a lot she also saw his... "What's wrong? And what happened to your scar?"

He tried unsuccessfully to flatten his hair over his scar. "Nothing," he sniffled wiping his face again. "Everything's fine."

"Right, and Voldemort's really an okay guy. Come on, let's talk."

She put her arm around his shoulders and led him to the end of the hallway where there was a huge arch-shaped window. With a painful pang, Harry remembered the arch in the Department of Mysteries and started to cry again.

They sat cross-legged on the window sill facing each other. Well, Piper was facing Harry and he had his head in his hands again.

"Harry," whispered Piper gently touching his arm, "Please talk to me. What happened to your scar?"

He looked up, green eyes shining with tears and Piper had to hold back the urge to cry. The expression on his face was one of such utter misery that she had never felt so bad for anyone in her life.

Harry had to talk to someone. He felt like he was going to explode if he didn't get some of it off of his chest. He didn't want another repeat of what had happened earlier in the dorms.

He took a big breath to try and calm down. When he spoke it was in a hoarse whisper. "I tried to get rid of my scar with the spell that Paige used in class the other day. It worked at first, but then it came back and it was like this."

"Is that why you're so upset?" she asked gently.

"No, well yes, but that's not the only reason."

"Care to share the rest?"

"Not really. No offense."

"Offense taken," she said with a wry smile.

Harry gave a small chuckled that was drowned out by a cough.

Piper looked at him questioningly. "What did you do, scream yourself hoarse?"

He nodded. "I was mad when it didn't work and I took it out on Ron. I know he didn't mean any harm but I hate it when people say they understand. How can they understand, when everyone they love is alive and well? To me it's just empty words."

"Harry, _I_ understand what you're going through," said Piper as she turned to look out of the window.

He gave her a look which she didn't see. A look that said: _How can you say that after what I just told you? _So he decided to ask her. "How?" it came out a little more aggressive than he had meant it. "How do you understand what I'm going through?" he said disbelievingly.

Piper sighed and turned to look at him. "A few years ago I lost my older sister, Pru. She was killed by a demon in an attack that nearly killed me too. I was mad at the world for a long time. I even almost quit my duties as a witch but then we met Paige and we had to start over. We didn't even know that Paige existed, let alone that she was our sister. But you never get over it. For a long time I kept thinking that it should have been me. I always thought that she was a better witch than me. All of a sudden I had to be the oldest and I didn't think I could fill her shoes."

Harry looked at her surprised and she continued talking.

"Our dad walked out on us because he disagreed with our mother and grandmother about raising us as witches. Our mother died after that when we were all still little; she was killed by a demon too. Phoebe was so small she didn't even remember her. Then, years later, we lost Grams. It was only a few weeks after she died that we got our powers. We were very new to the craft and very scared of what our lives would be like. We've made it through a lot. I can't even count the number of times we've actually died or almost died. But it wasn't without a cost. There's always a cost. Why did it have to be them?"

"I don't know," Harry shook his head. "I always ask myself the same thing. Why me, why my parents, why Sirius?" His eyes started to well up again but he didn't care. He didn't mind crying in front of Piper, she understood.

"Who's Sirius?" Piper asked.

Harry wanted to tell her but the lump forming in his throat wouldn't let him. He took a shaky breath and coughed. Then he began to tell her all about Sirius. After all, she had been very open with him and he knew it would help to talk. He started at the beginning and told her how at first he thought Sirius had betrayed his parents and was out to get him. He told her about finding out how it was really Pettigrew who was the bad guy and how he got away. He even told her about the Triwizard Tournament and Cedric, though it had been very difficult to get it all out. But not as difficult as it had been to talk about the events of fifth year. He told her about Umbridge, occlumency, his visions, Mr. Weasley being attacked, Grawp, and finally their trip to the Ministry.

He was crying the entire time he was talking about the duels. When he talked about Sirius going through the veil, he had to stop and take deep breaths because he was sobbing so hard. He finally got it all out and Piper was crying with him.

"Why? Why does everyone I love die? It's not fair. I'm never going to be happy!" he cried.

Piper pulled him close and he lay his head in her lap. She rubbed his back gently as he coughed and cried into her lap. "Shhh. It's okay. I know you're hurting but remember, we've all been through something," she said through her own tears. "We're going to get him. He's not going to cause anyone anymore pain. I promise."

"When will the pain of loosing him go away?" Harry mumbled into Piper's lap.

"It will never go away but I promise it will get better." She patted his head softly and stroked his hair.

They sat like this for a long time.

Until finally, Harry had cried himself to sleep in Piper's arms.

Piper whispered for Leo. He orbed to the window and looked at Piper and the now sleeping Harry. He orbed them up to the 'house' where they laid Harry down on one couch and went to sit across from him on the other.

Piper told Leo what had happened and by the end of it she was in tears all over again. "It's true Leo, why do _we_ have to suffer so much?" she asked in between sobs.

Leo put his arms around her and she rested her head on his shoulder. He rocked her slowly until, just as Harry had done, she had cried herself to sleep.

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Phew! I just about mad myself cry with that one. Then again I am overly sensitive. I hope you liked their little heart to heart. I really think Harry needs a motherly figure in his life. In the books its Mrs. Weasley. In my story it's Piper. Please review and tell me what you thought. Thanks!

Jarie1019 0;)


	14. The Next Morning

Here's the next chappie. I hope you like it.

A/N: thanks to pickles87 for the !!!awesome idea.

Disclaimer: I don't even own a pet.

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Chapter 14

Piper was the first to wake, and she was surprised to find herself in her room. Her eyes were slightly swollen from crying. With a heavy heart she remembered what had happened last night.

She walked quietly downstairs and found Harry fast asleep on the couch. Her heart broke for him a thousand times. She couldn't believe everything that he had been through at such a young age. She also couldn't believe that he had been so open with her. He really needed someone to be there for him. Sure he had his friends, but he needed more…parents…a mother. Or maybe he just needed to see his.

Even from the top of the stairs she could see the now jet black scar on his forehead. It sat conspicuously under his hair perfectly in view for the whole world to gawk at.

Poor kid, like he's not already recognizable enough, she thought. _Good thing it's Saturday. He probably would have missed his first two classes already._

She sat on the couch next to him. She was about to wake him when Phoebe and Paige came yawning noisily down the stairs.

They froze at the foot of the stairs when they saw Harry on the couch and Piper's frantic attempts to shush them.

They tiptoed into the living room and gave Piper a questioning look. She pointed towards the kitchen and they took the hint and left. Once the distraction was out of the way, Piper went back to gently waking Harry.

"Harry," she whispered, while she gently stroked his hair.

He gave a small groan and slowly opened his eyes. When he saw Piper sitting there he gave her a small smile. He didn't even feel embarrassed. There was something about Piper that made him feel comfortable. She knew what he felt, she understood.

"Good morning, sleepy head," she whispered getting up off of the couch.

"Good morning. Erm, thanks…for last night," he said somewhat awkwardly sitting up.

"No problem. How does some breakfast sound?"

"Brilliant."

Paige and Phoebe ran back into the kitchen so as not to give away the fact that they had been eavesdropping. They threw themselves towards the table unceremoniously. Phoebe grabbed the newspaper and Paige was drinking from an empty glass.

Piper and Harry walked in and Piper eyed her sisters suspiciously.

"Paige, why are you drinking from an empty cup?" she asked with raised eyebrows.

"What? Oh, well I finished my orange juice and I was just about to get some more," Paige said getting up quickly and going towards the refrigerator.

"Right. Phoebe, why are you reading the paper upside down?"

Harry tried to hold back his giggles.

"Oh, well, it, um," she stuttered. "Well, it's not like we were eavesdropping if that's what you're trying to say."

"No not at all," said Piper smiling and turning to look at Harry who was trying not to laugh.

After a great breakfast, Harry told the girls that he better leave before people started to worry about him.

"They'll probably think I got kidnapped if I don't make an appearance soon," he said glumly. He unconsciously touched his scar.

"I wish there was something I could do about your scar," said Piper.

"Me too," he said frowning.

"Hang on a second," said Paige. "Are we girls or not?"

"Paige, what are you talking about," Piper said a little irritably.

"Oh!" said Phoebe catching on.

Paige held out her hand and said "concealer." With a trail of blue orbs, a small and compact disk shaped object was now in Paige's hand.

"Paige, you are a genius," said Piper.

"I know," she shrugged. "Harry come here."

He walked uncertainly towards Paige and stared apprehensively at the small circular object. Paige opened it to reveal a small mirror on one side and a circular pad on the other. Underneath the pad was some sticky looking stuff. Paige rubbed the pad in the stuff and went straight towards Harry's head.

"What is that?" asked Harry dodging Paige's hand.

"Make-up." She tried again but he moved again.

"I am not wearing _that._"

"It will make your scar fade," said Piper gently. "And no one will know unless you tell them. It will probably look like it did before, if not lighter."

"Fine," he said grudgingly while Paige smeared the stuff on his forehead.

When he was done, he felt his forehead expecting it to be sticky but it felt normal. Piper handed him a mirror. He was afraid to look at it but figured it couldn't be worse than it already was.

What he saw shocked him. His scar was back to normal. In fact, it was even lighter than it was before. It was almost not visible.

He looked at Paige with a huge grin on his face. "Thanks!"

"No problem."

He turned to go. "Harry," Piper called. "If you ever need to talk, we changed the password. It's 'Prudence.'"

Harry nodded and left. For the first time in a while, he felt somewhat happy.

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Draco sat in the Slytherin common room reading from his potions book. It had been a few days since he had written to his father and told him about the girls, and now he was eagerly awaiting a response.

He hadn't told anyone what he had heard the night of his detention. That was one piece of information that he wanted to keep to himself for the moment. All he told his father was that there were three new teachers that were supposedly writers for the Daily Prophet. He also mentioned that they had a spell book and that he doubted they were the normal kind of witches they were used to. The last thing he put in the letter was a question. He asked whether his father had heard anything about them and what they were really doing at Hogwarts.

He got tired of the book and decided to get the homework that Paige had assigned them in his room. When he reached it he found his gray owl perched haughtily on his night stand with a letter tied to his leg. He eagerly grabbed the letter and sat on his bed to read it.

__

Draco,

You did right by informing me. My sources tell me they are no ordinary witches. They are widely known in America as the Charmed ones and have killed countless demons over the years. There are now rumors surfacing that they are here to help in the destruction of the Dark Lord. Obviously we can not let this happen. Therefore I will ask you to keep a close eye on them. Gather any information that will be useful to us in a fight against them. Know where your loyalties lie and be prepared to fight to the death for our Lord. You may be handsomely rewarded.

Your father,

L.M.

Draco read and re-read the last two lines of the letter. They made a chill go up his spine. 'Be prepared to fight to the death,' he wasn't so sure if he was ready for that. And a handsome reward would be pretty useless if he wasn't alive to enjoy it.

He wished he had never written to his father. He didn't want to be responsible for gathering any information on anyone. Especially if he wasn't going to get anything out of it. Right now all he saw him self getting…was murdered. After all, they had 'killed countless demons over the years.' Did he really want to get on their bad side…again? He was pretty sure that if he did anything to cause them harm, they would do a lot more than make him wear a pink apron.

He walked back to the common room, letter clutched in his hands. He sat on the couch in front of the fire and threw the letter inside. He watched it burn while he thought about what he was going to do.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Harry walked back to the common room knowing that he was going to have a lot of explaining and apologizing to do.

When he entered the common room it was totally empty save for two people.

Ron and Hermione were sitting on the couch…arguing.

"Honestly Ron, did you have to be so insensitive?" Hermione asked. "Gapping and pointing at his scar."

"You would have too if you saw it. It was bloody black," he said defensively. "Besides I tried to calm him down, but you know how Harry gets. Might as well try to keep a blast-ended skrewt calm."

"Was I really that bad?" Harry asked from the doorway of the portrait.

Hermione ran over to Harry and gave him a tight hug. "Ron's told me everything. I'm so sorry about…your scar!" She gasped when she looked up at it. "It-it's almost gone! But what, how?"

"It was black, well actually it still is but," he bent over and whispered something in her ear.

Her eyes widened and a smile appeared on her face. "Oh! Wow, I _never _would have thought of that!"

"I know, me neither," said Harry.

"Wait, that's not fair. What wouldn't you have figured out? And if you couldn't figure it out what hope is there for the rest of us?" Ron asked.

"What do you think? Should I tell him?" Harry asked her.

"Come on Harry," he pleaded.

After a few more minutes of taunting, they finally told Ron and he almost burst out laughing.

"Harry, you better not tell anyone else that," he said trying to be serious.

"Actually," said Hermione suddenly sounding very serious, "you should tell Dumbledore what happened. For all we know, it could have had a bigger affect than just turning it black. Maybe your connection to V-Voldemort has somehow changed to."

She saw the apprehensive look on Harry's face and continued. "I know what your thinking and he won't be mad at you. He'll understand why you did it, trust me. You should go see him later, maybe tomorrow, just to talk. Maybe you'll feel better."

"Only Piper makes me feel better," he mumbled under his breath.

"What was that, Harry?" she asked.

"Nothing." However, he had just remembered something. "Last night I ran into Piper and we talked and…" Harry told them some of the things they had talked about. He left some of it out because he felt like it should only be between him and Piper. However, he did tell them about one thing that he had been wondering ever since he had finished talking to Piper. "She said that she couldn't count the number of times that they had died or almost died. Isn't that weird?"

"I can understand 'almost died' because we've almost died plenty of times. But how could they have actually _died_ when they're right here in the castle?" asked Ron bewildered.

"That's exactly what I was wondering," said Harry.

"Well, they aren't your everyday witches are they?" said Hermione in her know-it-all voice. "They're different. Their book has years and years of spells and magical knowledge in it. Imagine all the spells that are in there." There was a far off look in her eye, the kind of look Hermione always got when talking about a book she really wanted to read.

"Hermione, stop drooling and just ask them if you can have a look at the book," said Ron.

Hermione blushed a little and hit Ron over the head with one of the pillows that was on the couch. They had the common room to themselves and the pillow fight began.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Piper was cleaning up after breakfast while Paige and Phoebe looked at her expectantly. When she continued ignoring their looks, Paige finally spoke up.

"Well, are you going to tell us why Harry was here or not?"

"Not," said Piper pouring some left over coffee down the drain.

"Come on Piper," asked Phoebe. "And what happened to his scar?"

"Fine." She sat at the table. "He tried to use the spell that Paige taught in class on his scar and it turned black. I ran into him in the hallway and he was really upset. We talked for a while. I told him about Mom, and Grams and Pru because he felt like no one understood what he was going through. I just wanted to show him that everyone's been through something. He really has no one. We may not have our mother, but Dad's alive, and at least we have each other. He only has his friends." She finished and the other two were looking a little teary eyed.

"I wish there was something we could do," said Phoebe and Paige nodded.

"Actually I was thinking about it. Maybe there is something we could do. Maybe we could, you know, let him see his parents."

Paige and Phoebe exchanged worried glances before Paige spoke. "I know it would be for a good cause, but he never even knew his parents. Maybe if he sees them he'll get too attached, then it'll just be harder for him to say good-bye again. When I went back and saw my parents I couldn't bare the thought of loosing them again. I even tried to change what happened."

"Yeah, and then he'll want to see them everyday, but it doesn't work like that," Phoebe added.

"I know, I know. But I just feel so bad. I think…we need another opinion." She walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. She reached into a small vase that was next to the fire place and pulled out a pinch of floo powder. She threw it into the flames and said Dumbledore's name. In a few minutes, the headmaster's head was floating merrily in the fireplace.

"Good afternoon, professors. How may I help you?" he said cheerfully.

Piper once again launched into the story. She told Dumbledore about the scar and about the talk she had had with Harry. Then she told him of her idea. He became pensive for a moment before speaking again.

"I believe that it would do Harry a great deal of good to see his parents. Especially at a time like this when he is feeling very much alone. He needs to know that those who we love never really leave us. However, it must be stressed to him that this will be a one time occasion, even if it can be done more than once. He must not get too attached and he must know that he will not be able to see them again."

"What about…Sirius?" Piper asked cautiously.

"I am afraid that wound is still too fresh," replied Dumbledore.

"But what if he asks? Do we just say no?"

"It would depend on Harry's state of mind. Only if he understands that it will only be to say good-bye."

"He deserves that chance and a lot more," said Piper.

"Nothing could be more true."

With a small pop, Dumbledore's head was gone.

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Well, there's the next chapter. I hope it was up a little quicker than the last one. I have a really important question to ask: does anyone remember the spell that they use to bring someone back. I know it is somewhere along the lines of, spirit hear my cry, spirit from the other side and I am fairly positive that the last line is 'cross now the great divide.' If you know the whole thing _please email_ it to me or leave it in your review. Thanks a lot for all the reviews. I would respond but it's late and I just want to get the chapter up. Thanks again to pickles87 for the great idea!!!!

Jarie1019 0;)


	15. Cross Now the Great Divide

Thank you SO much to everyone who reviewed and gave me the spell. I hope you like this next chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters.

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Chapter 15

After the almost hour long pillow fight, they spent the rest of the day walking on the grounds, playing chess and exploding snap, and they even went to visit the sisters to have a cup of tea.

Harry couldn't help notice the looks that the sisters kept giving him. It looked as though they were about to cry. When he asked them about it they said he was being ridiculous.

Hermione, herself, had almost cried when Ron burst out that she wanted to see the Book of Shadows. "I'm so sorry professors it's just that it looks really interesting and I can't imagine all of the spells and-" she started trying to explain herself.

Piper had promptly cut her off saying that firstly, she didn't have to call them 'professor' unless they were in class and secondly, of course she could see the book. So they had spent a little while telling Harry and the others stories of the demons they had faced and vanquished. They were amazed at everything the sisters had done.

Finally, Harry couldn't wait any longer and he asked Piper how they could have died if they were still alive.

The sisters started laughing and Paige said, "Wow, now that I think about it, that does sound really weird. We died, but we're right here."

Piper tried to explain. "Well, we have this sort of guardian angel called a whitelighter and his job is to look after us. He has the power to heal. His name is Leo and he-

"And he's her husband," Phoebe chimed in.

"Thanks a lot Phoebe, now they're going to think I'm an old maid or something," said Piper annoyed.

"Don't worry, Piper, at least they don't know about Wyatt," said Paige before putting her hand over her mouth.

"Paige!"

"Who's Wyatt?" asked Hermione curiously.

"He's my son," said Piper. "I don't want you to think that I don't trust you guys, because I do. It's just that I don't want him involved. I don't want anyone using him to get to us, you know."

"We understand," said Harry while Ron and Hermione nodded.

"How old is he," asked Ron.

"He's two," said Piper.

"Aw! I wish we could see him," said Hermione. "I love babies." Needless, to say she got some looks from her two best friends after that comment.

"Piper, can't we just call Leo and Wyatt? It _has_ been a while and I'm sure he misses you," said Paige.

"Yeah, and I want to see my nephew," said Phoebe.

"Oh alright. Leo! Bring Wyatt!" Piper called out.

"Piper, what are you," Harry began but was cut off by the blue orbs that had appeared in the living room and had turned into a man and a small boy.

"Bloody hell!" exclaimed Ron, while Hermione had given a squeak of surprise.

Introductions were made all around. Hermione blushed slightly when she shook Leo's hand and she could have sworn that Ron's cough sounded an awful lot like 'Lockhart,' but she ignored it. She absolutely loved Wyatt and thought he was the most adorable thing in the world.

Harry was pleased to meet Leo and found that he liked him a lot. He found that he was just as easy to talk to as Piper and saw that they must be happy together.

After an hour of chatting, it was getting a little late and Harry, Ron and Hermione decided they should be getting to their common room.

"Harry, before you leave. We found the counter curse to the spell you used on your scar," said Paige. She grabbed a piece of parchment from her pocket and handed it to Harry. "You should wipe off the make-up first so we can see if it works."

With the sleeve of his shirt, he wiped off the make-up to reveal his black scar. Hermione gasped slightly. Then he read the spell. "Let the object of objection return, so that it's existence may be reaffirmed."

He finished the spell and from the look on everyone's faces he could tell that it had worked. "Glad that's over with."

They bid everyone farewell and headed to bed.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Sunday morning dawned bright and cheerful on the castle. Harry had slept better than he had in a long time.

He rolled over in bed and sat up. Looking out the window he could see that the sun was barely up and he could even see the giant squid swimming across the lake.

Yawning, he looked over and saw that his four roommates were still fast asleep, so he decided to head down to the common room and read a quidditch book that he had gotten out of the library some time ago.

He was barely at the door when he heard a scratching at the window. Turning around, he saw a school barn owl outside on the ledge with a letter tied to its leg. Wondering who would be writing to him this early, he went over, opened the window and let the owl in. It flopped down on his bed and waited for him to take the letter and sit. He had barely unfolded the letter, when the owl promptly flew out the window.

It read:

Harry,

At your earliest convenience, would you please come down to my office, as I have something important to discuss with you.

Albus Dumbledore

Harry put the letter down feeling slightly uneasy. What could Dumbledore have to speak to him about that was so important? Did it involve Voldemort? Had something happened to one of the Order members?

He let these thoughts carry him out of Gryffindor tower and through the castle. He was so busy thinking about the awful thing that could have happened, that he almost passed the entrance to Dumbledore's office.

When he realized, he turned around. Standing in front of the gargoyle he also realized that he had no idea what the password was. "Great, now what?" he said.

"Harry? I did not expect you here so soon. I only just sent the owl a few minutes ago. But, alas, the sooner the better, I suppose. Cauldron cakes." He said the password as he reached the gargoyle and it sprang to life and jumped aside to reveal the spiral staircase that Harry as sure he had seen a million times.

Once inside the office Harry sat in a chair in front of Dumbledore's desk. "Harry, I suppose you are wondering why you are here. Ah, I see you have managed to return your scar to normal?"

Harry was taken aback. "How did you know?"

"That is not important. What is important is that you felt the need to get rid of it. May I ask why?"

"Isn't that obvious? It's because of everything that happened last year. If it wasn't for this stupid scar Voldemort wouldn't have been able to trick me and, and Sirius would still be alive. If I didn't have the scar…then I wouldn't be connected to him."

Dumbledore hadn't expected Harry to be so open so soon. "Harry, the events of last year were not your fault, as we discussed. And I should also remind you that Arthur Weasley is still alive because of you. However, scar or no scar, you would still be connected to Voldemort because he chose you, he marked you as his equal."

"But my parents are dead because of him, and Sirius, and I never got the chance to say good-bye," Harry was trying hard not to cry. Why did Dumbledore need to talk to him about this?

"Harry, how would you like that chance?" said Dumbledore calmly.

"What?" Harry was sure he had heard wrong. "What do you mean?"

"I have been made aware of a way for you to be able to see your parents and talk to them. Would you like that chance?" he said again.

Harry couldn't believe his ears. "Are you serious? I would actually be able to _see_ them and talk to them? But how?"

"I am not sure myself and do not pretend to know how it works. It seems that the sister's magic is even stronger than we know."

Sisters? "Piper?" Harry asked.

"Yes, it was her idea. She seems to think, and I happen to agree, that with what you are going through right now you need some support. More support than your friends can give."

"I don't know what to say. How long will I have?" he asked eagerly.

"Again, I am not sure. But Harry, there is something you must know."

I knew it was too good to be true, he thought. "What's the catch," he asked frowning.

"Probably one you did not think of. Harry, this will be a one time event. After this, you will not be able to see them again. This is just to say good-bye. Can you be sure that when the time comes, you will be able to let them go again?"

Harry thought for a second. He knew it would be hard, but he also knew that if he didn't agree, he wouldn't be able to see them at all. "I'm sure. It's just to say good-bye."

"Alright, then-

"Wait a minute. What about…Sirius? Can I see him too?"

Dumbledore looked at Harry's pleading eyes. How could he say no? "Harry, that is still very recent. Are you sure you would be able to let him go…again?" he asked carefully.

"Please, I need to know that he doesn't blame me. I need to apologize, and say good-bye."

Caring for this boy will be my downfall. "Very well, but I cannot stress enough that this won't happen again," his voice was serious.

Harry nodded.

"Well then, in that case…you should get down to breakfast. I imagine there are some people you would like to talk to. And perhaps some questions that you will have in mind for later."

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Harry walked to the Great Hall in a daze. He reached it and much like he had done with Dumbledore's office, he almost passed it. He walked in and couldn't help the goofy grin that was now plastered on his face.

He sat down across from Ron and Hermione. Hermione was eating while she was reading and Ron was just, well, eating.

"Good morning, Harry," he said through a mouth full of scrambled eggs.

"Yeah, great," he said not really paying attention. He was too busy trying to think of questions to ask his parents. He was so excited and nervous that he couldn't eat. He just kept pushing his food around on his plate.

"Why aren't you eating, Harry?" asked Hermione finally looking up from her Transfiguration book.

"I can't. I'm too nervous," he said truthfully.

"Why?"

"Because I'm going to see my parents," he said in a would-be casual voice.

Ron nearly choked on his eggs and Hermione almost spit out her pumpkin juice.

"What? Blimey, Harry are you feeling alright?" Ron asked bewildered.

Harry explained what Dumbledore had told him and this left Ron and Hermione speechless. Well, it left Ron speechless anyway. "Oh, Harry that's wonderful. The sisters must have really powerful magic. I think I remember seeing a spell in the book to summon a spirit. What are you going to talk to them about? Will you be able to touch them or will they be like ghosts?"

"Whoa Hermione, breathe," Harry said smiling. "I have no idea how it's going to work. All I know is that I'm going to be able to see and talk to them. And I have no idea what I'm going to say to them." He was starting to feel nervous again. "What am I supposed to say, nice to meet you and sorry you died?"

"Harry, don't worry. When the time comes, you'll know what to say." Leave it to Hermione to always be the voice of reason.

Leave it to Ron to be the voice of stupid questions. "I know what you could ask. Ask your dad why he hated Snape so much, ask him about quidditch, and ask him how he got a girlfriend. Just kidding, Harry," he added quickly when he saw the look on Harry's face.

"Ron, you have really gotten insensitivity down to an art," said Hermione huffily. "Ask him about Snape, honestly. Why don't you ask him about something productive, like apparating. We take our tests soon you know."

Harry and Ron laughed and Hermione went back to her book until Harry said something that surprised her.

"You know you guys are coming with me, right?"

"But don't you want to be alone with them," asked Hermione, abandoning her book.

"Well, yes…but I can do that after I introduce them to my two best friends."

"We'd be honored," said Ron in a falsely dignified voice which made them all laugh again.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

The Great Hall emptied quickly after breakfast.

Harry, Ron and Hermione were headed to the common room when they saw Dumbledore.

"It's time."

Harry suddenly became aware of how messy his hair really was. All the way to the sister's portrait he kept trying to flatten his hair, while Hermione kept telling him not to worry about it. He still kept trying when they were at the front door, in the living room, going up the stairs, and finally when they were in the attic.

Piper, Phoebe, and Paige were standing in what would have been a normal looking attic. The only thing out of the ordinary were the five white candles that stood in a circle in the middle of the room and the Book of Shadows which stood on a stand behind the candles.

Dumbledore, Harry, Ron and Hermione stood in front of the circle of candles directly in front of the sisters.

"Ready to see your parents, Harry," Phoebe asked.

He nodded.

They joined hands and began saying the spell. "Here these words, here our cry, spirits from the other side, come to us, we summon thee, cross now the Great Divide. Beloved spirits Lily and James, we seek your guidance, we ask that you commune with us and move among us."

When they finished the spell, a small breeze blew through the room. Harry tried one last time to flatten his hair as shining lights appeared in the middle of the circle of candles.

Before they saw anyone they heard a woman's voice, "Don't worry about your hair, sweetheart, it's one of the things I love about your father."

Harry couldn't believe his ears, or his eyes for that matter. Standing in the middle of the circle of candles were Lily and James, slightly transparent, holding hands and absolutely beaming at their son.

No one said a word.

Lily slowly stepped out of the circle and to everyone's great surprise (except the sisters) she materialized. She was no longer transparent. It was as if she was alive again.

Harry hardly knew what to do as she walked towards him. It was all he could do to stop himself from crying. Then she did something that he didn't expect…she hugged him. He could feel her arms around him and it was the best thing he had ever felt in his life.

Lily _was_ crying. She cried as she hugged him. "My son. My wonderful baby boy," she said as she hugged him.

Everyone was so busy watching her that they hadn't noticed that James had also stepped out of the circle. "Now, Lily, he's hardly a baby anymore. Right, son?"

Harry felt his breath catch in his throat. He was talking to him. His father was there and he was _talking_ to him.

James came over and gave Harry a one armed hug. Harry was speechless. He didn't know what he had expected, but this was more than he could have hoped for. It was like they were alive and they had never left.

Before Harry could find his voice, Lily and James had spotted Dumbledore. "Dumbledore! It's so nice to see you. Thank you so much for taking care of Harry," Lily said while James shook his hand.

"Amazing," was all Dumbledore could say.

"Well, Harry, aren't you going to introduce us to your friends?" James said cheerfully.

Once Harry had gotten over the initial shock of seeing his dead parents for the first time, not counting the Mirror of Erised in his first year, he found that it was very easy to talk to them and it was almost like they had just been on a very long vacation and now they were back.

"This is Hermione and this is Ron. They're my best friends and without them I would probably be dead," said Harry making both Ron and Hermione blush.

"It's nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Potter," said Hermione. Ron couldn't speak and just nodded.

"No need to be so formal, dear," said Lily.

"And this is Piper, Phoebe and Paige," Harry continued. "Their here to help me."

"Nice to meet you," said Piper.

"We'll leave you alone so you can talk," said Paige and they left the attic along with Dumbledore.

"So," said James a little awkwardly. "Play any quidditch, Harry?"

That had done it.

Harry and Ron began to talk about everything that had happened while playing quidditch. Harry told them about making the team in his first year, about Malfoy buying his way onto the Slytherin team, he told them about being banned from the team last year because of Umbridge, he even told them about how he broke his arm and Lockhart had managed to make all the bones in it disappear.

From then, they talked about everything they had been through, all the "adventures" they had had. The Philosopher's stone, the basilisk, and the Triwizard tournament.

Lily and James couldn't believe everything that their son had been through in such a short amount of time. They sat there looking at him in awe, while him and his friends re-told their stories.

An awkward silence told Ron and Hermione that it was time to go. "We'll see you downstairs," said Hermione.

"Harry," Lily said once Hermione and Ron had gone, "We are so proud of you. All the things you've done are amazing. You have great friends. We couldn't have hoped for a better son."

This made Harry say what had been bugging him since he had first seen them. "But what about Sirius? It's my fault that he died. He probably hates me."

"Padfoot, hate? He could never hate his own godson. Trust me, Harry, the only people that Padfoot hated were Snape, Snape and Voldemort. And probably Malfoy," James said, smiling.

Harry felt a little better. "But I still wish I could know for sure…that he doesn't blame me."

"I don't blame you, Harry." In the middle of the circle of candles stood Sirius. He, like Lily and James, walked out of the circle and became whole again.

Harry couldn't hold back the tears anymore. "Sirius, I'm so sorry. It was all my fault, if I had just listened it all never would have happened," he cried.

Lily hugged him once more and Sirius came over and patted his back. "Harry, I _don't_ blame you. It was my choice to leave Grimmauld Place and help the Order, no one else's. You can't blame yourself."

"Sirius is right," said Lily. Then she looked thoughtful. "Now there's something I thought I would _never_ say."

"Hey!" said Sirius. "I take offense to that. Are you going to let her talk to me like that, Prongs?"

"Lily can do whatever she wants, Padfoot. You should know that by now."

"And yet she chose to marry you," said Sirius grinning.

"Touché, old friend," said James.

Harry could have sat there and watched them talk forever. He knew this was the best day of his life. He knew that every time he had to make a patronus from now on, he would just think of this moment and he could fend off a million dementors.

Best of all, he knew Sirius didn't blame him.

After a few more hours of conversation, in which Harry had told them how their Marauder's Map had brilliantly insulted Snape (which caused James and Sirius to dissolve into a laughing fit), they told Harry that it was time for them to go.

Although it seemed to Harry that they had merely talked for a few minutes, in reality it had been nearly the whole day. He didn't even realize that he was starving as it was nearly five o'clock.

"Do you have to go?" Harry asked, the tears welling up in his eyes.

"Unfortunately, yes, Harry," said Lily, trying not to cry herself.

"Harry, always know that we are with you. We will be watching over you wherever you go."

"I hope that doesn't include the loo," said Sirius, lightly.

Harry laughed through the tears. He had no idea it would be this hard to say good-bye. Now he knew why Dumbledore had asked him if he was sure. He knew he would never see them again, and couldn't bare letting them go.

"We love you, Harry, and always will. Never forget that," said Lily giving Harry one last hug.

He reluctantly let her go. "Keep showing the Slytherins who's the best house, and tell Moony we said hello," said James hugging Harry next.

"Yeah, and tell Snape **_I_ **said 'hello.' Give him hell from me," said Sirius hugging Harry last.

"Ignore Sirius, Harry, dying must have scrambled his brain, although he _was_ like this when he was alive, so…" said Lily slightly annoyed, "We don't want you getting into any trouble."

Harry nodded, laughing, but he was sure that he saw her wink when James and Sirius weren't looking.

The three of them went and stood back in the circle, becoming transparent once more.

Harry stood there and looked at them…his family…the best family he could have ever asked for.

He sat staring at the circle of candles where his family had stood, even after they had disappeared.

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Phew! Finally. I didn't think I was ever going to finish that one. Thank you for your patience and I hope the wait was worth it. May I offer a lame excuse: I've been hella sick. Still am. I've had this stupid cough for about a month.

Thanks to all the reviewers:

charmed fun; pickles87(write as much as you want! Thanks for the great idea.); Lost Darkness; bob-the-bear; Panther28; Herb; Dreamingmaggie; Kara (sorry about Sirius. I love him too, but I thought this would be better.); Ariana; Charmed-aussie; Yaminy-grint4eva; Cat; Aznxpiperxswann; Satan Barbie ( I always love reading your reviews!); Charmed Lassie; Charmedfanatic3000; Buta-Chan. **Thanks so much to everyone who gave me the spell!!!**


	16. Highs and Lows

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters.

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Chapter 16

That dinner was the best dinner of Harry's life. Everything was better. The food was better, Ron's jokes were better, and he was even surprised that he didn't get the slightest bit annoyed when Malfoy called out, "Alright there, Scarhead."

He as on an all time high and no one could bring him down. Not even Snape.

First class on Monday morning was potions and Harry was still reeling from yesterday's events. All of Snape's comments soared by him in indifference. He was able to calmly ignore Snape and get on with his potion. By the end of the class Harry was not the slightest bit surprised when his potion received and 'E' (exceeds expectations), which is more that can be said for Snape.

"Your potion may have received an E, Potter, but I am taking five points from Gryffindor, as I am sure you cheated," Snape said silkily when most of the class had left.

It was a sign of how happy Harry was that he didn't even get upset. "Nothing we can't earn back in a good game of quidditch," he said calmly with no intention of being rude. "By the way, Professor, Sirius says hello."

Harry, Hermione and Ron left the classroom almost doubled over in laughter at the look of pure horror on Snape's face.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Not everyone was having as wonderful days as Harry's. In fact, Draco was feeling absolutely miserable. He confined himself to his dorm most of the time and only came out to eat and go to class.

Crabbe and Goyle tried talking to him but most of their conversations went like this:

"Um, Draco? We were going to fly around the quidditch pitch, want to come?"

"Can't you idiots see that I'm busy?!" when in fact he was just sitting on his bed thinking hard.

Of course, no one but Draco knew why he was in such a foul mood. It was the sisters. He still didn't know what to do. He was sure that if he betrayed his father and the Dark Lord he would die. On the other hand, he was also quite sure that if he betrayed the sisters, he was also likely to die.

In short, Draco was stuck between a rock and a hard place. It was either: gather information to help destroy the sisters or risk being tortured to death by Death Eaters. It was a lose-loose situation.

It didn't help that he didn't exactly hate the sisters either. It would have been so much easier if the were annoying and ugly. But no, instead they had to be funny and witty, and have cool lessons and they were gorgeous, in Draco's opinion.

How could he just hand them over to the Voldemort to be murdered when they had never done anything to him (unless you count the pink apron)? Could he live with himself knowing that they had died because of him?

It was these unpleasant thoughts and another letter from his father that had finally driven him out of his room. The letter had read:

Draco,

I assume that you haven't written because you are hard at work. You better be. The Dark lord is expecting information soon and it would be best to deliver. Do not fail me, son. Remember where your loyalties lie.

L.M.

The letter burst into flame the moment he had finished reading it. He watched as its ashes disappeared on the floor.

He had to clear his mind. So now he walked purposefully towards the quidditch pitch. There was no better way to forget something than by doing a few laps on his Nimbus 2001.

There was a small breeze that played across his face and blew his hair back as he walked. When he reached the pitch he mounted his broom and kicked hard off of the ground.

Higher and higher he climbed until he could no longer stand the cold and dampness of the clouds around him. He let the cold numb him and let that numbness spread throughout his body and into his head. He thought of nothing but the broom beneath him and the sky around him. Then he shot forward. Faster and faster he went until the wind was pressing so hard against his chest he could hardly breathe. He did a few laps like this before descending slightly.

He went just low enough to be able to see the stands. They were completely empty save for a single person, though they were too far away for Draco to see and he didn't really care that they were there.

He decided to do a small speed test again. He flew to one end of the pitch and stopped to hover in front of the goal hoops much like a Keeper would. Then without warning he grasped the handle firmly and flattened himself on the broom as he sped forward like an arrow. He went faster and faster until the rushing wind was almost blinding him.

He had to have been going at least sixty miles an hour.

He was nearly at the other end of the pitch when something brown streaked in front of him. He swore loudly as he dived down and narrowly avoided a collision with it.

Flying almost vertical, he gave a glance upwards and saw that the brown thing he had almost hit was an owl and it was headed towards the school.

That bloody letter better be important, he thought savagely as he turned back round to face the direction he was going in, wind still howling in his ears making it difficult to hear.

The ground was five feet away. Not nearly enough time to slow down.

He hit the ground with a mind blowing crunch and was immediately rendered unconscious.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Piper had to hold back the tears when she saw the look on Harry's face when his parents appeared. She felt so happy at being able to reunite him with his parents that he had never really met. _This, _she thought, _is what our magic is all about._

She could see the enormous impact that the event had had on Harry. Every time she saw him he was smiling, he was doing exceptionally well in all of his classes, as she had heard some of the teachers talking in the teachers room.

On the whole, everyone looked happier. That is except for one person, Draco. Piper had noticed that he seemed rather distant lately. He kept to himself in class and never really talked to anyone. Not that he was a social butterfly before, but he at least talked to his own house-mates. She was also surprised to notice that he rarely insulted anyone anymore and when he did it was half-heartedly, as though it was more of an automatic response. In short, she thought he looked as though there were a great weight on his shoulders.

She approached Phoebe and Paige one day with her observations but they didn't really take her seriously.

"It's called being a teenager, Piper," said Paige. "We all had our little moody phases."

"Yeah, and we still have them…once a month anyway," said Phoebe jokingly.

"I'm not kidding, guys. Haven't you noticed a change in him?" Piper persisted.

"Well, maybe he has changed. Maybe he finally decided to grow up," said Phoebe.

Still, maybe it was her maternal instincts, but Piper couldn't help but worry.

Which is why she was surprised to see Draco walk onto the quidditch pitch by himself one afternoon. She had come to the pitch for some peace and quiet to plan out her next lesson when she saw him arrive. Apparently, he didn't see her because he soared into the air without as much as a sideways glance.

She almost laughed at first because she remembered the time when her, Phoebe and Prue had gone back in time and Phoebe had flown on a broom after saying that it was stereotypical.

She watched him go higher and higher until she lost him in the clouds, so she went back to her lesson plan.

When she was finished with her lesson she folded the parchment and put it and the quill she was using into the bad she had brought with her. She looked up just in time to see Draco speeding from one end of the pitch to the other. She almost screamed when the owl came soaring out of nowhere but breathed a sigh of relief when he dodged out of the way.

However, when she saw that he wasn't looking where he was going as he was hurtling towards the ground, she did scream.

"Draco look out!"

But it was too late. He had hit the ground. Hard.

Piper ran down to the field and gave a gasp of horror as she reached Draco's crumpled body.

He was on his side before she slowly turned him over. Blood was spilling freely from a gash on his head and from his mouth and nose. His left arm was at an odd angle and she saw a bump on his right leg that she was sure was his bone. Tears welled up in her eyes. She knew if she didn't act fast, Draco would die.

Blinking the tears away she yelled. "Leo! LEO HELP!"

Leo arrived instantly and as soon as he saw Draco he bent over his body. "What happened?" he asked urgently.

"H-he crashed his broom."

Leo held out his hands over Draco's face and they began to glow. Slowly the cut on his head began to mend and the blood pouring from his mouth and nose began to fade. Leo then quickly moved to his arm ad leg and healed those next.

A few seconds after Leo had finished, Draco opened his eyes slowly. His entire body hurt as though he had just been subjected to the Cruciatus curse for an hour straight.

His vision was blurred as he looked around wearily before asking in a hoarse whisper, "What happened?"

"You almost died, that's what happened," said Leo.

"Who are you?" asked Draco trying to move away from Leo while noticing Piper for the first time.

She's crying. Why? Because of me? he thought confusedly.

"Never mind that now," said Leo impatiently. "I've healed him enough, but we should still get him to the hospital wing."

Piper nodded. She put one arm around Draco's shoulder (he tensed at her touch) and took Leo's hand with the other. Together they orbed to the hospital wing.

The soreness of his body combined with the uneasiness in his stomach and dizziness of having just orbed was too much for Draco and he doubled over and was sick right on the hospital floor.

Piper didn't know what to do so she just rubbed his back comfortingly. "Hello! Is anyone here?" Piper called.

A door on her right opened and out came Madame Pomfrey followed by Dumbledore himself.

Poppy gave a small squeal of surprise at seeing the three of them there but as soon as she saw the state that Draco was in she went into nurse-mode.

"Scourgify," she said as she aimed her wand at the puddle of throw up in front of Draco's feet. "What happened?"

"He crashed his broom because of an owl," said Piper.

All the while, Poppy was bustling about pulling different potions from a cupboard. Some were in small, fat vials others were in long, thin vials and some weren't in vials at all but big jars.

"Come here Mr. Malfoy and lay down. Now I want you to drink this," she said handing him a fat vial filled with purple liquid, "it will help your stomach. And this," a long and skinny vial filled with a blue liquid, "this will help the soreness. It's a miracle he didn't' break any bones."

"He did. Actually he was in really bad shape before Leo healed him," said Piper. "He was bleeding all over the place and I think his arm and leg was broken."

Poppy looked at Leo in amazement while Dumbledore just looked on curiously waiting to hear what Leo would say.

"How did you heal him without any potions or a wand?" she asked bewildered.

"Perhaps another time Poppy," said Dumbledore softly. "Let us just be thankful that he was able to do what he did. Or our young Mr. Malfoy here might not be with us."

Draco all the while was listening with his eyes closed. Partly because he had a headache and partly because he wanted them to think he was asleep. If it really was as bad as Piper said, he could have died.

That means they saved my life. If they knew what I was supposed to do they probably would have let me die, he thought grimly.

Would they? his mind argued back. _After all, they are…good._

Draco almost shuddered at the word. _What the hell am I supposed to do now? The Dark Lord is waiting for information, and I if I don't' deliver, it's my ass…or father's._

So they saved your life and this is how your going to repay them? his mind taunted back.

Shut up! he screamed inwardly. _I'm not supposed to have a conscience. What should I care if they die, I don't know them and they don't mean anything to me._

Murderer…his mind hissed at him.

I wish they would have let me die. At least that way I wouldn't have to choose. He didn't know why but he was starting to feel groggy.

How ironic, his mind chuckled, _you kill the people that save you to save your own hide. Now that's a true Slytherin. _He was realizing just how tired he really was.

Damn that Pomfrey, was the last thing he thought before slipping off to sleep.

He should have known she would have slipped him a sleeping potion. He would no longer argue with himself…but…he was free to dream, and dream he did.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Why in the WORLD did this chapter take so long? I went on vacation to Florida. I left the fourth and I just got back two days ago. I had every intention of updating before I left but I just never got to it. The vacation was fine and I would have gone to Universal if it was for a small obstacle called hurricane Charley. Although it was headed straight for where I was, I am please to report that it turned and missed us completely.

Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed: Charmedsisters, Sweet-Charmed-Angle, Darkangeltheidiot, della (thanks a bunch J ), Kaylee (blushes thank you, thank you, thank you!!), Lyy-syadyniar (thank you so much), animal zoo (Wow! I don't know about that best but thanks. I'll take the A and run with it), Charmedkat48, bob-the-bear, Ariana (I'm glad you liked it), Belfastgal, pickles87 (thank you so much. I'm cured!!), lost Darkness (trust me, the torture period was totally unintentional.), yaminy-grint4eva, Charmed Lassie, Panther28, Charmedfanatic3000. **Thank you SOOO much to everyone!!!! Please keep the reviews coming. Special thanks to Pickles87 for another great idea!! What would I do without you guys.**

Piper1019


	17. A Nightmare and a Chat

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters.

Chapter 17

"So, son, what do you have to tell me? Some good news, I hope?"

"Actually, father, I wasn't able to find out anything about the sisters. If they have any weaknesses, they keep them well hidden."

Lucius did not like this answer. "What?! You mean to tell me that all this time you have been doing nothing! What kind of fool do you take me for? You know something and you _will_ tell me what it is," he said threateningly while he took out his wand.

Draco held his ground and looked at his father defiantly. "I know nothing."

Before Lucius could do anything a voice was heard, seemingly out of nowhere. "Oh, but you do know something, don't you Draco?"

Voldemort emerged out of the shadows, red eyes fixed on the blonde teen in front of him. "You cannot lie to the Dark Lord. You know something. Now what is it?" he hissed.

"I-I already told my father. I don't know anything," he said as a single bead of sweat rolled down his face.

"Brave little Slytherin, aren't we? Braveness does little to impress me. Crucio!"

Every bone in his body was on fire. He tried not to scream as he fell to the floor in pain. _Stop, please stop,_ he thought miserably.

Reading his mind, Voldemort lifted the curse. "Ready to talk?"

From his position on the floor, Draco nodded slowly.

"Good," said Voldemort savagely. "Now…what do you know?"

"P-Piper. Sh-she has a son."

The room faded and Draco found himself in a dungeon that appeared to be far underground. Chained to the ground and unconscious in front of him was Chris. After a few seconds, Piper, Paige and Phoebe orbed into the dungeon.

"Oh my god. Chris!" Piper yelled as she ran over to him.

"He's fine, Piper. He's just knocked out," said Phoebe looking around.

"You!" yelled Paige, noticing Draco in the corner. "Why are you here? What's going on?"

Instantly, Death Eaters apparated in and had the sisters surrounded. Before Piper could freeze any of them, they had stunned them all.

They woke to find themselves chained to the ground with their hands behind their backs, next to Chris.

"It was a trap," said Phoebe looking around at all the Death Eaters.

"And _he _helped!" Paige screamed. She looked ready to kill Draco.

Piper looked up at Draco, disbelief etched on her face. "You didn't, did you?"

"Of course he did. After all, he is my son," came the cold voice of Lucius. He revealed himself to be standing right in front of Piper. He kicked out and hit Piper in the stomach.

"Father!" Draco couldn't help himself.

"What?!" said Lucius, cold eyes turned to his son.

Draco shook his head and Lucius made to slap Piper. "Stop!" he yelled.

Lucius seemed beside himself. "Draco, you dare to raise your voice to me?! Have you gone insane, son?!"

Draco began to walk forward towards Lucius but before he could reach him, he was promptly knocked to the ground landing in front of the sisters. Paige made to hit him but as her hands were tied she did nothing but struggle. "I knew," she began, "I knew from the beginning that you were evil."

"What was I supposed to do?!" Draco yelled. "It was you or me!"

"You could have told us!" Phoebe now yelled.

Draco looked at Piper wearily. He wanted her to say something or yell at him, anything. But when she spoke it was in a cold voice, just above a whisper. "After what we did for you, me and Leo…how could you?"

Just then, the Death Eaters parted to let Voldemort himself confront the three witches who were supposed to help defeat him.

"Well done, Draco. I just _knew_ that I could persuade you."

"They don't have to die. You could keep them as slaves," Draco almost begged.

"I'd rather die," said Piper savagely while Paige and Phoebe nodded.

"Have it your way," said Voldemort in his ice cold voice. He drew his wand.

Draco watched as each of the sisters fell dead before his eyes.

Then…Voldemort turned on him…

His stomach woke him. He leaned over the hospital bed and threw up in the bucket next to the bed. He still felt very sick and watching the sisters being murdered in his dreams didn't help.

He tugged on his pajamas which were sticking to his body from the cold sweat and tried to calm his breathing. He needed to get out of this place. He hated the hospital and he needed to go somewhere to think.

Against the will of his screaming and aching body, Draco slowly got out of bed. He put on his slippers and began walking towards the door. He stopped just outside the door and contemplated whether or not to turn back. His stomach was still uneasy and he would hate nothing more than being sick in the middle of the corridor. He thought about his dream and that was all it took. _I can't go back to sleep, not tonight._

So he slowly walked out of the hospital wing and down towards the main entrance. Many times along the way he felt as though his muscles would give way, but all he had to do was think of his dream and that was enough to stop him from going back. _What the hell am I going to do?_ This was the thought that distracted him enough and brought him to the entrance of the library. Just another floor or so and he would be at the main entrance.

He was about to go down the stairs when he heard the last thing, or rather, the last voice he wanted to hear when he was sick, sore and wearing his pajamas.

"Excuse me, but I'm sure that you are fully aware that it is after hours and you should be in your dormitory. May I ask what you think you are doing…Malfoy?!"

Draco turned around slowly, death glare already in place. "Mudblood," he said casually while fighting the urge to be sick again.

"Malfoy, what in Merlin's name are you doing out of bed in the middle of the night and-" but Hermione's rant was cut short when she actually got a good look at him. He was paler than usual, kept shifting his weight as though it hurt to stand, was hunched over and was holding his stomach. In short, he looked sick, very sick. "What's wrong with you? Why do you look so sick?" she asked still looking him over.

"Isn't it obvious," he drawled, "I'm looking at you."

Hermione was not amused. "Listen, Ferret, give me one good reason why I shouldn't take points from Slytherin and turn you in to McGonagall?"

Just as he opened his mouth to retort, he lost the battle he had been fighting with his stomach since he left the hospital and was sick all over the floor.

"Ew! Malfoy, what is wrong with you? _Scourgify_. If this is a clever attempt to try and get out of detention then you should know that it won't-" but once again Hermione's rant was cut short. This time, however, it was because Draco had swayed dangerously towards the stairs. He would have fallen backwards if not for-

"Get your hands off of me, Mudblood!" Draco yelled.

Hermione had wrapped her arms around his waist to stop him from falling backwards down the stairs and had pulled him away. They were now standing in the middle of the corridor looking very much like they were hugging. Until-

"I said GET OFF!" Draco put his hands on Hermione's shoulders and pushed her away with as much strength as he could muster. Which, given his current state, was not much.

Hermione stumbled back a foot or so. "Is that the thanks I get for stopping you from falling down the stairs!" she screeched. "You ill-tempered, evil, ferret…"

Draco had tuned her out in an attempt to not fall to the ground. He stumbled towards the wall and grasped it. Hermione walked over to him and hoisted him up by putting her arm around his shoulders and his arm around her neck.

He struggled against her. "Are you deaf, mudblood?! How dare you touch me with your filthy hands!"

Hermione had had enough insults for one night. "Fine! I guess you'd rather have your pureblood self on the filthy floor!" and with that she let go of Draco and he quickly fell to the floor.

"Arg!" he groaned. His elbows had made painful contact with the floor in trying to break his fall. "Don't just stand there, help me up!" he barked as if talking to a servant.

Hermione stared at him in awe. "After you told me to let go?! You need to make up your mind. Besides, do you really want my filthy hands touching you again?" When he didn't answer she turned around to walk away.

Draco knew that he wouldn't be able to get up without help. His elbows were stinging from where they had hit the ground, but he was very reluctant to accept help, especially from Hermione Granger.

He tried to get up by himself but his arms gave way. "Wait," he mumbled just above a whisper. When she didn't turn around he called out louder, "Wait!"

Hermione almost couldn't believe her ears. She turned around slowly and walked back towards Draco, cursing her conscience as she went. _I can't just leave him there, even if he would leave me if the situation were reversed. He's sick and he could get worse. _

She stood over him and he looked up. She couldn't believe the hate in his eyes. Without saying a word, she bent over and helped him get up and started walking in the direction of the dungeons.

"Stop," Draco said.

"Look, if you're going to tell me not to touch you again then I don't see how-

"I wasn't!" he snapped. "You're going the wrong way."

"No, I'm not. The Slytherin common room is in the dungeons," she said. "Everyone knows that."

"I wasn't in my room. I was in the hospital wing. So if you wouldn't mind could you please turn around!" he yelled starting to feel dizzy.

"You were in the hospital? Why were you in the hospital?" asked Hermione curiously.

"None of your bloody business."

Hermione decided not to retort as the chore of holding Draco up became more tiresome. He was, after all, a good foot and a half taller than she was and he wasn't exactly making it easy either. He was putting all his weight on her and she nearly tripped a few times.

After one of those close calls, Hermione had to shift her position. When she did, Draco got a face-full of her hair. He inhaled so that he could have the proper breath to insult her, when he registered that her hair didn't smell all that bad. In fact, it smelled quite good.

His mind screamed at him that this was a filthy mudblood's hair and he promptly turned his face away.

After a few minutes, they finally reached he hospital wing. Hermione helped him to his bed and while he got in she went over to the potions cupboard. She returned to his bed with a two vials and a jar of a sticky-looking clear goo.

"Here. Drink this," she said handing him the vials.

He eyed them suspiciously. "What are you trying to do? Poison me?"

Hermione laughed. "Don't be such an idiot, Malfoy. This one will help with your nausea and this one will give you a dreamless sleep."

His eyes practically lit up at the mention of the dreamless sleep potion. He took the vials and downed the one for nausea right away but kept the other grasped firmly in his hand. "And just what is _that_ for?" he asked looking at the clear goo in the jar with a look of revulsion.

"_This_ is for your elbows. They're bleeding."

Draco looked at his arms and just like Hermione had said, he could see the red blotches underneath his light colored pajamas.

He looked up in time to see Hermione tossing him a wet rag. "What the-

"Wipe off the dry blood then put the paste on it. It'll stop the cuts from bleeding and they won't sting as much. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to bed. Pleasant nightmares, ferret."

With that last comment, Hermione left, leaving a slightly stunned Malfoy alone in the hospital. _Bloody mudblood. Who does she think she is?_

She paused outside the door and, without Draco seeing her, she peeked back inside the room. She was surprised when she saw Draco wiping off his elbows and applying the paste like she had said. Then he took the dreamless sleep potion eagerly and downed it in one gulp. He fell to sleep almost instantly.

What doesn't_ Malfoy want to dream about? _Hermione thought as she made her way to the Gryffindor common room. _I guess_ _I'll find out somehow._

__

Well, that's is for now. I decided to beat the crap out of my writer's block and get this chapter up. Besides, I also just found out that the new season of Charmed is going to start next week (Sunday) and I'm so excited! I read that Nick Lachey is going to guest star in like five episodes. I can't wait.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, although it seems that maybe people are loosing interest because I didn't get as many as I did for the last chapter. But fear not for I will keep writing, whether people are reading or not. But if you do read this please, please, please review. They really do keep me going. Thanks: Piper1019 0;)


	18. Occlumency and A Visit

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters.

Chapter 18

Her heart was pounding. She did not want to have to go through this again, but she knew it was for everyone's well being.

The cold stone walls of the dungeons seemed to leer at her as she walked. She unconsciously tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and stopped in front of the door.

She still hadn't gotten too used to wearing robes. She was used to comfortable clothes. Robes, to her anyway, felt constricting and conservative. And if there was something that Phoebe Halliwell wasn't, it was conservative.

She straightened her black spaghetti strapped shirt, glanced down at her black velvet like pants and silently thanked Chris for orbing some of her clothes over. She knew she would have to be comfortable to be able to endure the torture she was about to go through.

She knocked on the door and heard a cold voice answer from the other side, "Come in."

She opened the door slowly and noiselessly and saw a very perturbed looking potions master sitting behind his desk. He seemed to be grading essays and didn't look so happy.

"Completely wrong. Don't know _what _she was thinking. Dreadful. If she had added the monkswood after the mandrake root the potion would have exploded in her face," he was muttering to himself and she saw him put a big black 'D' on the paper in front of him.

He put it aside as though it were a pile of hippogriff droppings and picked up the next essay. "Potter," he snorted under his breath.

She saw that he was about to put a grade on it before even reading it and she cleared her throat to get his attention.

His head snapped up, glare already in place but his eyes widened slightly at the sight of her. He wasn't very used to seeing beautiful women in his office, especially one that wasn't covered by robes.

She looked at her watch hurriedly to check the time afraid that she had come too early but it clearly said seven. "Occlu-thingy today. Remember?" she asked smiling.

He nodded curtly and began to hastily stuff the essays in his desk. Phoebe, being the social butterfly she is, tried to start a conversation. "So, that poor girl got a D, huh? I remember when I was in high school I would have been glad to see a few D's instead of the F's I would get."

Snape looked at her genuinely puzzled. "And what exactly does F stand for?" he asked staring at her.

"Stand for? Well, it means you failed. A 'D' is failing too but it's better than an 'F'. Then there's a 'C' which is the lowest passing grade, then a 'B' and an 'A' is the best you can get. Well, actually an A plus, but that's getting technical. Why? Do your grades stand for something?"

"A 'T' stands for troll and is the most abysmal grade given here at Hogwarts. 'D' stands for dreadful, 'P' for poor, 'A' is for acceptable, 'E' is exceeds expectations and an 'O' is outstanding," he explained.

Phoebe nodded knowingly. "So I guess an 'O' would be like an 'A' to us. Hm. Who knew?" she shrugged and walked over to the chair in front of his desk and sat. "So, were you just about to grade Harry's essay without even reading it?" her voice was serious and she looked at him intently.

His dark and brooding composure wavered slightly under her gaze and he almost felt guilty. "That…is none of your concern. You are here to learn the art of Occlumency so that the Dark Lord does not use your secrets against you and your sisters."

Phoebe acted like she didn't hear the last part. "The past couple of days for him have been great. After seeing his parents and Sirius he feels so much better. I even heard Piper saying that he's doing better in all of his other classes, so you might really want to read that essay before you give it a bad grade."

Snape's ears seemed to have stopped functioning properly. He could have sworn he heard her say that Harry had seen his parents and Sirius. "What did you just say," he asked barely above a whisper.

"Oh, yeah he's doing really good in his other classes and-

"No not that! Before that," he snapped.

"The past couple of days have been good?" she asked not knowing where he was going with this.

"After that," he ground out.

"He saw his parents and Sirius?"

"Yes. That's not possible. They are dead."

"I know. We summoned them. You should have seen the look on Harry's face and Lily and James for that matter. They were so happy. Harry looks just like James, except-

"For the eyes! I know!" he snapped for the second time. "You can summon the dead?" he was beside himself.

All this time he had thought that bringing the sisters here had been a mistake. That they would only serve as distractions and not accomplish anything. Now he was beginning to see that perhaps there was more power to them. Maybe he had underestimated them. Maybe, just maybe, they could help.

"Yeah. We've done it a lot of times. Once I had jury duty and I had to summon the victim to prove her husband innocent. And once Wyatt summoned Grams, but he also summoned a dragon out of the T.V. but that's another story." She shivered remembering the Erasers.

Snape couldn't believe his ears. He wanted to know more. He wanted to know exactly how powerful the sisters were.

He controlled the urge to ask more questions and quickly returned to his brooding state. "Let's start. I want you to close your eyes and empty your mind of all thoughts, good and bad. Now take slow deep breaths."

Phoebe concentrated on emptying her mind. She just listened to his voice, which she found oddly comforting, and steadied her breathing.

"Good," she heard his voice say. "Now stand up and ready yourself."

Slowly she got up from the chair but she still didn't open her eyes.

"On the count of three. One, two three, legilimens."

She felt him searching, prying through her mind. Back, back , back he went to a very early memory.

A very young Phoebe and Piper stood in the attic with Prue.

Phoebe had just vanquished the Woogie Man, which had turned her evil and against Piper and Prue.

"If it chose me then I must be more susceptible to it, right?" They said nothing. "Right," she concluded.

"You were the only one born in the house. You're connected to it. It's the spiritual nexus thing," Piper offered calmly.

This seemed to confirm Phoebe's fears. "Exactly. I could go either way, good or evil. It's kinda freaky."

The memory swirled away as another took it's place.

The walls were stone and hooded figures surrounded the couple in the middle who were clad in black.

Phoebe held Cole's hand as he was made the new Source of all evil…and she was his queen.

At Cole's apartment

"Phoebe, get out here and help us damn it!" Piper yelled as her and Paige tried to corner Cole with the crystals.

Phoebe was huddled in the bathroom. She had to make a choice. Live forever with evil and the love of her life, or her sisters.

"Phoebe he's gonna kill us!" yelled Paige.

Phoebe emerged from the bathroom, last crystal in hand. All she had to do was place it down and Cole would be trapped. No way out.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to Cole's utterly shocked face. "I love you," and with that she placed the last crystal in place and walked over to Piper and Paige.

"Prudence, Penelope, Patricia, Melinda," Piper began the spell.

Phoebe hesitated. She looked once more at Cole and her eyes filled with tears. She could barely choke out the next line of the spell. "Astrid, Helen, Alora, and Grace."

"Halliwell witches stand strong beside us," Paige continued.

And finally, "Vanquish this evil through time and space," they finished together.

Cole gave a gut wrenching scream before exploding. The explosion sent a shock wave through the entire apartment and it was almost completely destroyed.

Phoebe collapsed on her knees sobbing…mourning her lost love while her heart slowly hardened. She didn't want to feel anymore.

Under water cave

Paige, Leo and their two innocents stood staring at Phoebe.

She was a mermaid. She had been turned into one to help track the Sea Witch, which they had just vanquished. She had golden shells that made up a bra and her hair was held up by small shells and seaweed.

But that's not what they were all staring at.

"Okay, Pheebs, time to turn you back," said Paige.

"No, I'm staying in the ocean, I'm not going back," she said as she backed away with one swish of her golden tail.

"Phoebe, I don't understand," said Paige.

"It's everything Mylie said it was. It' complete freedom," said Phoebe smiling.

Mylie, who had been a mermaid herself, knew what Phoebe was going through. "The call of the sea. It'll turn her heart cold it she lets it," said Mylie.

Now it was Leo's turn to try. "Okay, Phoebe, get out of the water," he said taking a step towards her.

But she backed away. "No."

"Phoebe take my hand," Paige urged.

"No!" Phoebe yelled.

"Phoebe, fight it!" Paige pleaded.

"I don't wanna fight it. I just wanna be free," she said seriously. Then she turned around and swam away.

"Phoebe!" Paige screamed.

The room swirled around her and she could still hear Paige's voice echoing in her head.

She had collapsed a few minutes before Snape had removed the spell. He couldn't help himself. He wanted to see more. It was selfish of him and now Phoebe was shaking uncontrollably on the floor sobbing loudly.

He grabbed a few potions off of his desk and rushed over to her. Her eyes were clamped shut and tears were streaming down her face.

He kneeled down beside her and placed his arms around her. She was freezing and her breathing was rapid and shallow.

He pulled her close to his upper body in an attempt to keep her warm. He uncorked one of the potions with his teeth and forced it down her throat. She sputtered slightly before swallowing, but once she did her shaking slowed and her breathing became calmer.

No potion that Snape had could have stopped the tears.

Slowly he scooped her up in his arms and carried her back into his room.

It was fairly large with the same stone walls that made up the rest of the dungeons, yet the room was warmer. As soon as the door opens you see the bed. It was huge and covered with black silk sheets. Next to the bed on either side were torches each with flames lit. It was among the only light in the room. A few candles were lit here and there on a dresser, but that was it.

He walked over to the bed cursing himself the whole way. Why did he have to be so stupid? He just had to see what was in her past? He could have seriously hurt her.

But he couldn't help himself. She had been through so much, all of them had. And he thought his life had been hard. He couldn't imagine having to kill the love if his life. When she said those words, when she had fallen to the floor, he had felt her pain and it was unparalleled.

He tried to lay her down softly but she wouldn't take her arms from around his neck. Gently, he pulled them off and she settled into the bed.

He tucked the sheets around her and he heard her whispering. "Why? Why Cole?" she kept whispering, barely audible.

He left the room and came back with a dreamless sleep potion. He tilted her head back and opened her mouth to give her the potion. Almost as if she new what was coming, she readily drank the potion. After shifting around slightly for a few restless minutes, she finally fell asleep.

He could have watched her all night. Her tear stained cheeks, her chest moving up and down slowly as she breathed and the way her clothes disappeared into the sheets making her face stand out even more.

He left the room, with great difficulty, an returned to his desk. He pulled the stack of essays out again and stared hard at the first one.

After reading it thoroughly, trying his damnedest to find as many mistakes as he could, Severus Snape gave Harry his first 'E' ever in potions.

-----

She found him sleeping when she got to the hospital wing. She sat next to his bed wondering how it would be when her sons were this old.

She reached over to move a small piece of platinum hair away from his eyes when she found her wrist in a vice-like grip.

"Hey!" she yelped. "What's your problem?"

He opened his eyes all the way and found Piper staring at him. "That's quite a grip you got there," she said eyeing him. "How do you feel?"

She answered her question with his own. "What are you doing here?" he asked groggily.

"I came to check up on you," she answered.

"Why?" he spat venomously. "You don't care about me. I'm nothing to you."

She was taken by surprise. "Well, you may not be family but I care if you die."

"Why?" he asked again but this time his tone was low.

"Because you did such a good job cleaning last time, and if you die we'll never be able to find anyone as good as you. Besides, you did look awfully adorable in that pink apron. We still have it, you know, if you ever want to wear it again."

He shot her a look of disgust that made her laugh.

He liked to make her laugh. But when he thought of what he was supposed to do, it made him feel sick to his stomach.

He turned his face quickly so he wouldn't see her smiling face. But then he felt a hand on his shoulder and he slowly turned his head back.

She was looking at him intently and her question was obvious: what's wrong.

But he didn't answer. Instead he shrugged off her hand and said, "You should have let me die."

Now it was her turn to ask why.

He looked her in the eye and pictured her dead just as he had seen her in his dream. Empty, surprised, wide eyes void of all life and he couldn't speak.

Murderer, his mind hissed at him again. _You're going to kill one of the only people that might be able to protect you from the Dark Lord. Smart move._

"Shut up!" Draco yelled.

Piper was taken aback. "I didn't say anything. What is wrong with you?"

He shook his head trying to rid himself of the conscience that he didn't want, but it was no use. All he could hear was Paige' s voice screaming at him from his dream.

"I knew," she began, "I knew from the beginning that you were evil."

"What was I supposed to do?!" Draco yelled. "It was you or me!"

"You could have told us!" Phoebe now yelled.

Told us…told us…tell them…_tell them…tell her…TELL HER!!!_

She saw that his eyes were closed and he was breathing hard and she thought he might faint. "You need to calm down before you pass out," she said looking at him worriedly.

She really does care, he thought. That just made it harder to tell her. How could he tell her that he was supposed to betray her?

Don't be such a coward. Tell her! Have some courage!

I'm not a bloody Gryffindor! he yelled back.

He felt a hand on his face and opened his eyes.

She had cupped his face with her hand and turned it to face her. "Tell me what's wrong."

He shook his head violently.

She smacked him lightly on the side of the face. "Tell me!" she urged.

"I CAN'T!" he screamed back.

"Why not?!" she wasn't backing down.

"BECAUSE HE'LL KILL ME!"

-----

Hope you liked it, it's a good length. Please review! They keep me going. I really need the feedback! Thanks!


	19. Aftermath and Potions Class

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters.

…………………….

Chapter 19

He couldn't sleep. He kept having the same dream about a beautiful mermaid. She would come so close to shore, but when he would jump in after her, she would swim away. She led him further and further out to sea until he was trapped. Then…he would drown.

This is when he woke up, usually coughing.

He looked at his watch and saw that it was barely six in the morning. He crept into his room and found her sound asleep and peaceful.

He couldn't resist. He walked over to the bed and sat down.

His touch was soft. Slow. And curious. He ran his fingers down her fingers and over her open palm, went up her arm and to her neck. He grazed her cheek softly and brushed her lips with his thumb. She stirred softly and his hand recoiled. But she didn't wake.

His hand went back out tentatively and stroked her hair. It was soft, like a feather. He

leaned in slowly, stopped mere centimeters away from her face and took in her scent. It smelled like her; warm, soft and beautiful. He wished he could bottle it.

He was moving so slowly that he was barely moving at all. His lips _just_ touched hers. So softly that, at first, he wasn't entirely sure they were touching at all. That is, until he felt the soft tingle where they met.

She gave a soft groan.

She felt something tickling her face. She vaguely thought of Kit but dismissed it just as easily.

Her head still hurt as the memories came tumbling back. The last thing she remembered was seeing herself as a mermaid again. Then after that, it was blank.

As she woke she could feel something soft all around her. She also felt something cold and clammy on her head.

She opened her eyes and was met with a blank stare from the man at her side. He had a cold compress on her forehead and was looking at her intently.

"How are you feeling," he asked as soon as he thought she was fully awake.

She took a minute to take in her surroundings before answering. She was on a large bed and the soft material she had felt was definitely silk. They were torches on either side of the walls and a few candles spread around. She felt slightly uncomfortable when she realized where she was.

She sat up suddenly causing the compress to slide off of her head. "What time is it?" she asked worriedly.

"Six."

"In the morning?! Oh my god, I have to go. Piper and Paige are gonna think something happened." She made to get off of the bed but he forced her back down by putting his hands on her shoulders.

"How do you feel?" he asked again, but this time more intently.

"A little woozy, but otherwise I'm fine. What happened?"

She saw a small look of guilt cross his face. "I held the spell for too long. You collapsed and I brought you here to rest."

"Oh. Well, don't worry about it. I'm sure it happens all the time. But I really have to go before Piper blows up half the castle looking for me."

"I just have one question _Professor_ Halliwell. First a banshee, then a mermaid. How many other things have you been turned into?"

"Too many too count. But hey, better a mermaid than a wendigo or a vampire. And please, call me Phoebe. We both know I'm no professor."

She got off the bed and this time he let her. She was almost out the door when she turned around. "Thank you," she said.

"For what?"

"For being so patient with me. I know I must screw up a lot and I just wanted to thank you for not biting my head off."

He nodded but said nothing. He didn't really know what to say. He looked at her wondering why she was still there, when she spoke again.

"I just hope you're as patient with Harry. He's been through as much as we have in a shorter amount of time. He lost everything before he even knew he had anything to lose. He deserves a fair try to learn without being yelled at."

Without waiting for a response, she left.

Her words echoed through his head.

As she was walking out of his office she noticed the essays on the desk. Seeing Harry's, she stopped to look. She smiled softly when she saw the grade and then rushed out of the office and back up to their corridor.

…………………….

(The night before)

"Who's going to kill you?" she asked her voice now low and very serious.

He could have smacked himself. Now he had to tell her.

"No one. That's not what I meant." Or maybe he didn't.

"It sure looked like you did. Tell me what is going on. And don't even think about saying nothing because it's obvious. I've been noticing for the passed few days, you're different, you look stressed."

"That's none of your bloody business," he snapped.

"If it involves us, which I highly think it does, then it most certainly is my business. Now tell me."

He said nothing.

"You know we can protect you, right? Me and my sisters."

Draco snorted. "Yeah right. They hate me, especially Paige. She's be glad if I died."

"So she may not be your biggest fan, she just doesn't trust easily. And maybe Phoebe would be a little friendlier towards you if you stopped trying to hit on her all the time," she finished with a grin. "You have to trust us. We're the good guys remember?"

"According to who?" he asked before he could stop himself.

"According to everyone we've saved," she said seriously.

He didn't want to tell her, he just couldn't. If he did then that would mean he was on their side, one of the good guys and that thought sickened him. And yet he didn't want to be a slave to Voldemort forever either. There was no other word for it, he was confused.

And Piper saw it. "A penny for your thoughts," she asked softly.

"What's a penny," he asked even more confused.

"I'll tell you if you tell me what's going on in that head of yours." This wasn't working and she knew it. She had to try a different approach. "Fine," she snapped suddenly. "Don't tell me. Just keep this in mind: I can blow things up with my bare hands, and if I ever find out that you've done anything to put me and my sisters in danger, I'll start with your toes and work my way up. Understand?"

He looked scared for a brief moment but then skepticism crossed his face. "Yeah right, and I can fly without a broom," he drawled.

"Seems like you can't exactly fly with one either."

He was getting angry. Perfect. That's just what she wanted.

"I see you need a little demonstration."

She walked over to the other bed, picked up the pillow and brought it back over. She threw it up in the air and froze it. She saw his eyes widen and finished it off. With a flick of her wrists the pillow exploded in mid-air and feathers were everywhere.

"That will be your leg if you're too chicken to tell me what the hell is going on," she growled in a low voice.

"I am not a chicken," he ground out sitting up in bed and glaring at her.

"No, you're worse. You're a Slytherin. And from what I hear they got the short end of the stick when it comes to having guts. The Gryffindor's have the guts don't they?"

She could see his eye twitch slightly. "You don't know what you're talking about! No one defies the Dark Lord and gets away with it! No one!"

"How would you be defying him?" she pressed on.

He caught on to her game and calmed down. But he needed to make up his mind before it tore him apart inside. "If I tell you, you'll hate me," he said softly.

"Try me."

He couldn't take it anymore. He could no longer hold it inside. "I'm supposed to spy on you. I'm supposed to gather information to help destroy you," he said coldly.

She simply nodded. "Why would I hate you if you haven't told them anything?" she asked.

"How do you know I haven't told them anything?" he asked bitterly.

"Because if you had, we wouldn't be having this conversation. Besides, it's not like you know anything," she added.

He looked almost offended. "I do know something," he admitted.

"And?"

"Chris is your son," he stated.

"How did you-

"That night, before I left, I heard him call you 'Mom.'"

"Him and his big mouth," she said annoyed.

"And now I know about your powers," he added.

"True. Well, it's up to you to decide what you think is right. Just remember the pillow," she added with another grin.

"You're not mad?" he asked not daring to believe it.

"I trust you to do the right thing," she said hoping that she wasn't making a huge mistake.

Before Draco could even move or register what was happening Piper had bent over and hugged him tight.

He tensed at first. He felt her breath on his neck. His face was in her hair and her arms were all around him. He felt safe in her embrace. Not even his mother had ever hugged him like that. He could tell she was a good mother. Her son was lucky.

It was then that he knew he could trust her. Maybe not Phoebe and Paige, but definitely her.

She pulled away and kissed him lightly on the forehead. His eyes widened when her warm lips touched his cold and pale skin.

"Rest up. You're gonna need it," she said. Then she smiled and walked out of the hospital wing.

………………………

Piper walked back upstairs hoping she had done the right thing.

He's young. He deserves a chance.

She said the password and walked inside the house. She went up to her room and went to bed not even bothering to change.

……………………..

She didn't know what woke her. She looked out the window and it was still dark out. Checking her watch she saw that it was just about six in the morning.

Then she heard it. A rustling downstairs.

Slowly and quietly Piper got out of bed and crept to Paige's room. Before she even got to the door Paige had opened it. Apparently she had heard the noise too.

Together they went down the stairs. Not even halfway down, they crashed into something hard.

"Ow!" came a familiar voice.

"Phoebe?" asked Piper. "What are you doing? Where have you been?"

"I was with, never mind, I was no where."

"Nice try, sister. Spill," said Paige now turning on the light.

They walked down into the living room and sat.

"Well?" asked Piper.

"I had occlumency with Snape remember?" she finally said.

"And? What took you so long? It's six in the morning," asked Paige.

"Did he give you some other lessons?" asked Piper wryly.

"Piper! Ew. No. I passed out, apparently. I don't really remember what happened."

"Oh, are you alright?" asked Paige.

"I guess. He said he held the spell too long. I saw…me and Cole, when he was becoming the Source. Then I saw when we vanquished him, and me as a mermaid," even as she spoke she fought the tears.

"Oh Phoebe," said Piper understandingly.

"It's like reliving it all over again. You almost forget it's not real. You feel everything exactly how you felt it when it happened. It's horrible," she shuddered.

They enveloped her in a tight hug and stayed like that for a while.

"Well, since we're up," said Piper. "Who's up for some coffee?"

"Ooh, pick me!" said Phoebe. "I definitely need the caffeine boost."

Laughing, they walked into the kitchen. Suddenly Piper remembered what had happened the night before.

"Draco," she said randomly.

"Ugh. What about him?" asked Paige though it was clear she could care less.

"Remember how I said he was looking a little off lately? Well, I found out why. He's supposed to be spying on us."

This sent Paige on a seemingly never ending rant. "I knew it! I told you he was evil. I knew from the second we saw him on the train that he was bad news and now he's gone and sold us out. I ought to-

She was promptly cut off when Piper stuffed a piece of toast in her mouth. Phoebe laughed and Paige, choking slightly, glared at her older sister.

"What?" Piper asked innocently. "I would have frozen you, but alas I can't."

"Alas? You sound like Dumbledore," said Phoebe.

"Besides, you didn't let me finish. I said he was supposed to be spying on us. He hasn't told them anything. He didn't have anything to tell, besides that Chris was my son. He over heard us talking that night."

"Weasel," she heard Paige mutter.

"Paige, I want him to trust us. If he doesn't, he'll turn on us. You need to be nice. He thinks you hate him," Piper said.

"Well, then he's not as dumb as he looks," said Paige.

"At least give him a chance," said Phoebe catching both Piper and Paige off guard. "Maybe he's not that bad once you get to know him. Besides, just 'cause he's a Slytherin that doesn't make him all bad."

"Phoebe, I don't think you're talking about Draco anymore," said Piper suspiciously. "Do you have your mind on a certain greasy haired potions professor?"

"No! How could you even think that? That's completely ridiculous," she said unconvincingly.

"Yeah, sure. Listen, I think we're supposed to go watch a class today," said Piper. "How about potions?" she asked not bothering to be subtle.

"Sounds good to me." said Paige. "Phoebe?"

But she had already gone upstairs to change.

……………………….

Snape nearly dropped the cauldron he was carrying when he saw the sisters in the back of the classroom. He made brief eye contact with Phoebe before turning his back on the class. Piper and Paige noticed and nudged Phoebe while grinning to her great dismay.

As the lesson began, Snape told the class that they would be making a healing potion. it was best used on small cuts and such but if made incorrectly, could easily be turned into a strong sleeping draught.

With a wave of his wand he had the ingredients and procedures on the board and everyone began their work. While the students worked, Snape walked around and handed Harry, Ron, and Hermione their essays. Audible gasps filled the room as the trio saw their grades.

"He gave me an 'E'?!" Harry said not daring to believe it. "I thought he would fail me for sure, even though I actually tried on this one."

Hermione too seemed speechless. "I got an 'O'." she whispered. "I never thought he would, no matter how hard I tried.." she seemed at a loss for words.

Ron, being Ron, failed to keep his enthusiasm in check. "Bloody hell! I got an 'A'!" he yelled loud enough for everyone to hear. "That's like my first passing grade in potions…ever."

He turned around and the smile quickly faded from his mouth as he saw Snape standing right behind him. "Congratulations, Mr. Weasley. Now do get back to your potion before I change my mind, and your grade."

Ron nodded mutely and turned back to Harry and Hermione.

He hadn't even taken any points off or yelled or called him names.

Something was definitely up with him.

Meanwhile, Piper walked around to the different tables and tried to help those out who needed it, to the great annoyance of Snape.

"Professor Halliwell, I would greatly appreciate it if you would allow the students to attempt the potion on their own or they will never learn," he said in a would be calm voice.

"Okay. I was just telling Pansy that her potion would be thicker if she added ice to it, but you don't seem to have any."

He motioned her aside. "Does that actually work?" he asked curious. He was never in too bad a mood to learn something new about potions.

"All the time." she said and they continued their conversation.

Paige found herself wandering over to Draco's cauldron. He was working with Crabbe and Golye but it was obvious that he was doing all the work. She noticed that he kept shooting glances up at Piper and wasn't really watching what he was doing. If he kept that up, he could get hurt.

"You might want to add the pixie wings before you stir in the mandrake sap," she whispered close to his ear making him jump slightly.

"Why so it can blow up in my face?" he snapped.

"No. So it won't blow up in your face," she said and she pointed to the directions on the board which clearly said what she had just stated.

"Thanks," he said bitterly casting another glance at Piper.

"No problem. You know, Piper seems to trust you. So…I guess I will too." She gave him a small, reassuring squeeze on his shoulders and walked away towards Lavender and Parvati's table.

Draco wasn't sure whether or not to believe Paige. She had warned him about the potion, but why? He made a mental note to find out.

By the end of the class everyone had successful made the potion (with a little help from the sisters of course).

That class was the first class that hadn't ended in an explosion or someone, usually Neville, getting points taken off.

It had everyone hoping that the sisters would come to every potions class. Well, at least maybe Phoebe would anyway.

__

………………………………..........................................................................................................

I had to get this chapter out before I go too busy. Enjoy and please review. 


	20. Quaddwatch

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters.

Chapter 20

They weren't exactly sure why the sisters needed to see them, yet they found themselves walking to their portrait one Friday afternoon after dinner.

"Prudence," Harry whispered and the portrait swung open to reveal the rest of the hallway. They walked up to the door and knocked.

"Well hello there," said Phoebe brightly when she opened the door. "Come on in."

They made their way to the living room and found Piper and Paige sitting and looking serious.

"We have to talk to you guys about something important," Piper began.

"Is something wrong?" asked Hermione.

"Technically, no. It's about Draco," said Piper slowly.

Ron wore a look of disgust as soon as he heard the name. "Why do we need to talk about the ferret?" he said, brow furrowed.

"Ferret?" Paige asked.

"In our fourth year, Malfoy got himself turned into a ferret. It's a long story," Hermione explained.

Paige couldn't help herself. She started laughing, rather loudly too. That is until Piper shot her a warning glare.

"What about him," asked Harry trying to get the conversation back on track.

"He is supposed to be spying on us and gathering useful information for Voldemort," Piper began. The yelling that followed would have been funny if it wasn't so loud.

"What?!"

"How could he?!"

"That bloody wanker! I'll kill him!"

The latter being Ron.

Piper whistled to get them to settle down. "Look, I know you guys don't exactly like him, but he needs to trust us. We need to show him that we're the good guys. Otherwise he'll turn on us. He hasn't told the other side anything."

"Yet," spat Ron.

Harry was looking at Piper trying to understands. "I'm sorry, Piper. I'm going to have to agree with Ron on this one. Malfoy's bad news."

"I know how you feel," Paige chimed in. "I don't like him either. But I have a feeling that he only acts that way as a defense."

Phoebe nodded. "Maybe if you guys were a little nicer to him, he would back off."

"You don't get it," said Harry, trying to make them see. "That's not how Malfoy works. If we be nice to him, he'll think we're just trying to get something from him. And if we ignore him, he'll just keep going and going until we snap."

"Why exactly do you hate him so much? Because he's in Slytherin?"

"Yes. Well, no. That's not the only reason," Harry began trying to find an excuse.

"His father's a death eater!" Ron yelled, his temper flaring and Harry nodded vigorously in agreement.

"But he isn't," said Piper calmly.

"He's going to be...probably," said Ron stupidly, anger dying down.

"Not it we can help it," said Phoebe.

"He calls me 'mudblood'," Hermione whispered.

Ron and Harry looked at her sympathetically but Piper, Phoebe and Paige looked lost.

"What does that mean," asked Paige.

"It means 'dirty blood.' It's a really foul name for someone who's muggle born, like me. You wouldn't usually hear it in a civilized conversation," Hermione explained softly.

Paige put an arm around Hermione's shoulders and shot a look at Piper.

"What if he stopped calling you that? Then what?" asked Piper.

Hermione looked up. "He wouldn't."

"But what if?" asked Phoebe.

"I-I don know," said Hermione, truly at a loss.

"Look, we're not asking you to be best friends. We're just saying if you see him walking down the hall, don't start anything. And if he says something, no matter how horrible, just walk away and tell us. Remember, we want him to trust us."

Harry thought hard about it before answering. "Fine. We'll try."

"We will?" asked Ron incredulously.

Hermione shot him a look. "Yes, Ron, we will." She looked at Piper. "Do you really think he'll stop calling me that?"

"Once I have a talk with him...definitely," Piper smiled.

The trio got up to leave and the sisters followed them to the door.

"Remember what we said. Just try," said Piper.

A look of doubt crossed Harry's face.

Phoebe reached out to give him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. As soon as she touched him...

__

Harry was climbing faster and faster with Draco right on his tail. They were chasing what looked like a golden walnut with wings.

Harry reached out his hand about to grab it but Draco lunged forward on his broom and pushed him out of the way. Now Draco was in the lead.

Harry heard a whooshing sound behind him and turned to see a bludger heading full speed in his direction. He looked wildly around but no beaters could be seen anywhere near.

He ducked the bludger just in time.

It streaked past him and was headed straight for the back of Draco's head.

"Malfoy, look out!" Harry yelled.

But it was too late.

The bludger hit Draco square in the back of the head with a dull crunch.

Harry saw the blood pour down Draco's neck as he fell off of his broom.

Harry got underneath him and caught him as best he could with his broom. Then he raced him to the ground.

Screams were heard as everyone realized what had happened.

Draco was dead.

He looked up past the crowd and saw a figure clad in all black walking away from the field.

Phoebe gasped as she opened her eyes. She found herself looking into worried, green eyes.

She slowly removed her hand from Harry shoulder.

"Phoebe, what did you see?" Piper asked.

"Draco...he's gonna die."

Three sisters and three very confused students walked back to the living room were they had just been moments ago.

"Piper, what do you mean by 'what did she see?' She had her eyes closed," asked Harry very confused.

"I have premonitions. I can see the future, and sometimes the past," Phoebe explained.

"You're a Seer?" Hermione asked in awe.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Well?" Paige asked.

"Oh, right. Harry and Draco were flying on their broom chasing after this walnut thingy with wings when this black ball came flying out of nowhere and hit Draco in the back of the head. There was blood everywhere. The Harry caught him and brought him to the ground. Everyone was screaming. But then he looked up and saw someone walking away. Someone in black."

"Wait, who looked up?" asked Piper.

"Harry did. Well, actually I did. I was Harry. It was weird. I had the premonition from his point of view."

"But that's never happened before," said Paige.

"I know. Maybe my powers are growing. But you know what this means right?" asked Phoebe.

"Not exactly," said Piper.

"Someone's trying to kill Draco. It wasn't an accident. Someone's after him and we have to warn him," said Phoebe.

"And what exactly are we gonna tell him? That he's gonna get his head smashed in by some flying ball while he was racing to catch a golden walnut with wings?" asked Paige.

"Looks like it," said Piper. "When is this gonna happen?"

"Tomorrow," said Harry quickly.

"How do you know?" asked Phoebe.

"Because tomorrow's the first quidditch game of the season! Gryffindor versus Slytherin!" said Harry. "It's first thing tomorrow morning. When are we going to tell him?"

"Do we _have_ to tell him?" whined Ron.

"Ron!" said Piper warningly. And she sounded so much like Mrs. Weasley that Ron apologized right away.

"We'll have to tell him first thing, at breakfast," said Harry.

"We'd better warn Dumbledore too," said Paige.

"Good idea," said Phoebe. She got up and walked to the fireplace. She took a pinch of powder, threw it in the flames and said Dumbledore's name. In seconds, Dumbledore's head was floating merrily in the flames.

"Good evening, Phoebe. Ah, I see you have some company," he said looking at the trio. "How may I be of service, Professor?"

"I had a premonition. Someone's going to try and kill Draco at tomorrow's quaddwatch game," she said seriously.

Dumbledore chuckled. "I believe the word you were searching for was 'quidditch.' But, yes. I feared someone might try and harm young Mr. Malfoy. After all, he has not been to cooperative with his father's demands."

"How did he-" Piper began in a whisper, but Harry cut her off.

"He knows everything," he whispered back but Dumbledore seemed to have heard him anyway.

"I do try and keep up," he answered. "Which reminds me, congratulations to you three on your fine potions grade. But back to the matter at hand. I believe it best if we warn Mr. Malfoy, but continue on with the game as planned. Otherwise, we may not be able to catch the culprit. If anything seems to go awry, Piper can freeze the stadium and we'll go from there."

"I've never frozen that many people at once before," said Piper doubtfully.

"Don't worry. Your powers are enhanced here." With that and a small pop, Dumbledore was gone.

"I hate to sound to motherly, but I think you three should go to bed," said Piper. "We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

They nodded and got up. This time they really did leave...with no premonitions to interrupt.

Saturday dawned chilly and sunny on the castle.

Draco woke in a tangle of green sheets.

He sat up and saw the rest of the room was deserted. _Great oafs must have gotten a head start on breakfast._

He glanced at the small wooden clock on his table and saw that it was eight thirty. _An hour and a half until quidditch._

He let that thought carry him to the bathroom where he took a quick shower and dressed. When he walked back through the room to leave, he noticed a red piece of parchment on his bed. _Howler?_ he thought briefly.

But he saw that it wasn't an envelope. It was just a red piece of parchment turned over. What ever it was, it wasn't there before.

He carefully flipped it over and immediately recognized the fancy scrawl belonging to Dumbledore.

__

Mr. Malfoy,

I do hope the parchment caught your attention. Please come to my office immediately to discuss an important matter.

A. Dumbledore

Great.

__

What does the bloody muggle-lover want now? he thought annoyed.

He made his way through the halls cursing the headmaster all the way. How was he supposed to play quidditch on an empty stomach? This better be important.

He was so busy thinking that he didn't notice the person walking right in front of him. He felt his shoulder bump something. "Watch where you're going!" he hissed.

"Sorry," he heard a familiar voice say.

It was so familiar in fact, that his head snapped up at the sound.

"Potter?" he asked not daring to believe that the Gryffindor Golden Boy had just apologized to him.

Harry simply nodded his head once in return, said "Malfoy," and kept walking.

__

What the bloody hell was that all about? This was the thought that carried him to the hallway with the Headmaster's entrance.

He looked up and saw someone standing at the end of the hall. When he got closer, he saw who it was.

"Piper? What are you doing here?" he asked confused.

"Well, firstly, you don't know the password. And secondly, we need to talk. Fruitcake."

Draco couldn't help but smirk at the password. _How fitting for the old loon._

But then resentment got the better of him. "I suppose he'll be changing that now," he said bitterly.

"Why do you say that?"

"Do you really think he'll want _me_ to know his password?"

"Why certainly, Mr. Malfoy," came Dumbledore's voice.

Piper opened the door to his office and they walked in to find Dumbledore seated behind his desk. Two comfy looking armchairs sat in front waiting to be occupied.

Draco sat, feeling unnerved by the headmasters stare.

"Mr. Malfoy, it has come to my attention that you are in some kind of danger," Dumbledore began.

"What kind of danger?" he asked suspiciously.

Dumbledore looked at Piper for the explanation. "The serious kind. Someone is trying to kill you. They're gonna try at today's game."

"How do you know," Draco asked not really believing them.

"Phoebe saw it."

Draco snorted. "What, she had a vision of the future?" he said as if it were laughable.

When neither of them spoke, he looked at one then at the other.

"You can not be serious. Phoebe is a Seer?"

"Apparently," said Piper. "If that's what you call it. Hermione said the same thing last night."

"The mudblood knows?" Draco practically yelled, completely ignoring the fact the he was in the headmaster's office.

"Watch your mouth," Piper said warningly. Draco almost looked hurt. "Hermione is a great girl and she is just as much a witch as you are a wizard. She has never done anything to you to deserve your hatred. For your information, she was trying to help. So were Harry and Ron. Well, maybe not Ron so much but hey, you can't win them all. Don't call her that anymore."

Draco looked beside himself with anger. "You can't tell me what to do?" he said in a deadly whisper.

"I know," said Piper. "I'm not telling you to do anything. I'm asking you. You're a big boy, you can make you're own choices. Now either you choose to listen to us, or you can have your head broken open today by a, um...bloodger?" she looked questioningly over at the Headmaster.

"Bludger. I am afraid Piper is right. Someone today will attempt to take control of a bludger and aim it at you. We are warning you so you will be prepared. The game must continue as planned so that we may catch whoever is behind it all. Then, hopefully, we will get some answers. Understand?"

Draco nodded. "So you mean, Potter, the Weasel, and mu-Granger know?"

"Excuse me? The Weasel?" Piper asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Fine..._Weasley_," Draco ground out.

"Yes, they know. And they are ready to help if anything goes wrong," Dumbledore assured.

"So basically, I am...bait?" Draco asked.

"Exactly," said Piper smiling cheerfully. "Don't worry we've done this many, many times...and almost no one's died."

Here ya go! Next chapter (if I remember), the quidditch game, the culprit and the big freeze. Please review. I hope to reach 200 soon! Thanks, Piper1019


	21. The Game, the Attack, the Aftermath

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters.

A/N: Just a reminder, thoughts are in italics.

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Chapter 21

He left the headmaster's office in a daze.

Now he sat outside, alone under the big oak tree by the lake.

It was a perfect day for a quidditch game. Not too windy, just enough sun to see clearly but not blind you. What a great day to die on.

He was nervous. He didn't want to die. He could trust the sisters to protect him, couldn't he?

__

We're the good guys, remember, Piper's voice rang in his head.

__

But what if it's all a trap? What if they're planning this whole thing just to kill me so that I won't betray them? he thought miserably.

She saw him sitting there with his brow furrowed in concentration.

"Nervous?" she asked, sitting down.

He looked up and saw the last person he expected. "Paige? I mean _Professor _Matthews. What do you want?"

"I was on my way to the field and I saw you sitting here all depressed so I thought I'd check on you and see how you were doing."

"Some one's trying to kill me. How do you think I'm doing?" he snapped.

"Story of my life. Well, our life really. Geez, I can't remember the last time someone wasn't trying to kill us. It's a rare occasion really. We usually have a party for every day we're not attacked," she said lightly.

He just stared at her, void of all expression. He still didn't like her very much. The feeling was mutual.

"You don't trust us do you?" she asked finally.

"No."

"No, you don't trust us or no you don't not trust us?"

He gave her an annoyed look. "Where's Piper?"

__

Piper? Oh, I get it. "She's at the field with Phoebe, Dumbledore and some others getting ready for the game."

Looking at him now, all alone and not in class surrounded by his beefy friends, Paige could see that most of his macho facade was just that...an act.

"It's not a field. It's a quidditch pitch," he drawled.

"Whatever. Look, kid, I'm the first to admit that I'm not your biggest fan," she began.

"The feeling's mutual," he interrupted.

"Touché. But that's only because I got a very bad first impression of you on the train. You can't hit on everything with two legs you know."

__

But I'm a Malfoy.

"How about we start over," Paige offered as she put out her hand. "Hi. I'm Paige Matthews. I have two sisters, I'm half angel and I love being a witch."

She saw a smirk tug at his lips before he took her hand and said, "I am Draco Malfoy. I am the only heir in the Malfoy family, will inherit all of my bastard father's money when he dies, which I hope is soon, I am a pureblood wizard and I love playing quidditch but I would very much like to skip today's game."

Paige gave a small laugh before remembering something. "Damn."

"What?"

"Phoebe and I owe Piper ten bucks. We sort of made a bet that you were an only child."

"Wait, bucks? What are bucks?"

"Never mind. You need to get ready for the game. It starts in twenty minutes. Don't worry, we'll be watching."

She gave him a small wink and left.

Slowly he made his way to the quidditch pitch and tried not to think about having his head smashed in by a bludger.

He put on his robes, unaware of what was going on in the locker room around him. When he flew out to the pitch, he caught Harry's eye briefly and Harry gave him a quick nod.

As soon as the whistle blew, he completely forgot about all his problems and began his search for the snitch. Harry was several feet above him scanning the pitch.

He chanced a look in the crowd and began to worry when he didn't see any of the sisters or Dumbledore. He began frantically scanning the ground. He quickly spotted Paige's red hair and felt somewhat relieved.

He went back to searching for the snitch when he heard Seamus Finnegan (who had replaced Lee Jordan) announcing that the score was already forty to thirty with a Slytherin lead.

__

Where the hell is that snitch, he thought, thinking that the sooner he caught it and got to the ground, the sooner he would be safe.

A glint of gold.

He followed it with his eyes and found himself looking at Paige again. But this time she was lying on the ground, unconscious. The gold he had seen had been her watch.

He began to panic. If he went down to the ground he might miss the snitch. Unless...

He went into a quick dive. Harry, thinking Draco had seen the snitch, followed.

As soon as Harry was close enough, Draco yelled to him while he pointed to the ground. "It's Paige!"

Harry looked to where he was pointing and saw Paige on the ground. The two teens sped to the ground and rushed over to Paige. They reached her and Harry began to shake her.

"Paige! Paige, wake up!"

Nothing.

Suddenly, Paige started to change. Her eyes became smaller, her nose grew larger, her hair became darker and started to shrink towards her head as her body became more and more masculine. Until...it was no longer Paige that lay on the ground before them and whoever it was, he was definitely not unconscious.

"Bloody hell!" Harry yelled as he and Draco back away from the strange man.

The man, wearing tatty looking clothes, sprang up from the ground surprisingly fast and faced the two boys.

At once, they both drew their wands.

The man opened his hand and as soon as he did, a bright ball of what appeared to be blue lighting formed in his palm.

Without warning, he threw it.

Draco pushed Harry roughly to the ground and ducked. The ball went flying over their heads and hit the bleachers behind them leaving a black scorch mark.

Harry got up quickly and fought back. "Stupefy!"

The man took a few steps back but barely flinched.

"Everte Statum!" Draco now shouted.

But the man deflected it with another lightning ball. Then two more formed in his hands and he threw them again. This time they got their targets.

Harry was hit in the shoulder and went sailing back while Draco was hit in the leg and fell to the floor. Their flesh had been burned from the energy of the ball and they were both bleeding.

Draco tried to stand but the pain in his leg was too much. He vaguely registered the blood now pouring to the ground and when he looked at Harry he saw that his shoulder looked like it had been mauled.

__

Piper, where are you? they both thought.

Suddenly, a thought flashed in Draco's head.

"But who'll take the picture?"

"I know. Chris!" Piper called.

In a swirl of blue lights and young man had appeared in the living room.

"Bloody hell," he said in awe. "How'd you do that?"

"Who is that?" said Chris trying to contain his laughter. He was after all looking at a teenage boy in a pink apron.

"This is Draco. He's one of our students."

But would it work.

The man now had two more balls of lighting ready. It was now or never.

"Chris!" Draco yelled.

Instantly, Chris was there.

As soon as Chris had fully materialized the man attacked him. Chris dove for Harry and Draco. He grabbed them each by their shirts and orbed them to safety.

---

Chris took them to the other side of the pitch where the sisters, Dumbledore, Snape and McGonagall were waiting.

As soon as Piper saw the state they were in, she called Leo and he healed them right away, to the complete awe of the other professors present.

They made their way to the hospital wing where Draco and Harry told their story. Oddly enough, together.

"I saw Paige on the ground and I knew I had to go help. So I went into a dive."

"And I thought he had seen the snitch so I followed. But then I saw Paige too."

"But when we landed she turned into a man."

"Shapeshifter," Phoebe interrupted. "What else?"

"He shot these balls of blue lightning out of his hands," Harry recalled. "We would have gotten hit but Malfoy pushed me out of the way then he ducked."

Everyone in the room looked at Draco in complete awe. He had actually helped Harry? Willingly?!

"Energy balls?" said the real Paige. "Shapeshifters have energy balls?"

"They do now apparently," said Piper looking annoyed. "What I don't get is that nothing happened the way Phoebe saw it in her premonition."

"I believe I might have the answer to this," said Dumbledore. "Perhaps, Voldemort planted the vision to lead us off of his trail. That way the Shapeshifter could attack without interruption."

"He can do that? He can plant visions?" asked Phoebe worried. Could she trust any of her visions now?

Dumbledore looked at Harry sadly. "Yes, I am afraid he can."

"And we learned it the hard way," said Harry.

"Well, I am very pleased to see that you are both okay," said Dumbledore. "And I am very proud of you both for fighting when it would have been just as easy to run away."

He turned and whispered something to the other adults in the room before leaving with Snape, McGonagall, Phoebe and Paige. Madame Pomfrey busied herself in the office and now only Piper, Draco and Harry were left.

"So," she began sadly, "I guess you guys got a little taste of what our lives are like."

"You have to do this every day?" Harry asked amazed.

"But not without a price," said Piper.

Just then, Hermione and Ron came in.

"Harry, Dumbledore's just told us what happened. Are you alright?" asked Hermione face filled with worry.

Ron, however, glared at Draco.

"I'm fine. Thanks to Malfoy," said Harry quietly.

As much as it pained him to say it, he owed Malfoy his thanks. If it wasn't for him he might have been fried crispy.

Ron's glare changed to more of an ogling.

Hermione however was beaming. "I see you took that potion," she said smirking at Draco. "Otherwise you'd still be throwing up. And thanks for helping Harry."

"Did he really?" said Ron disbelievingly.

"That's right, Weasley," Draco snapped. "I can be a hero as well as Potter."

Oh the uncomfortable silence.

Draco felt the oddest out of all of them. He was sitting in the middle of the hospital room with the Golden trio and Piper. Not a likely crowd.

After a few minutes, "Well...we're going to head down to dinner," said Hermione.

"Great, I'm starved," said Ron.

"When are you not hungry, Ronald," said Hermione clearly annoyed as she smacked his arm playfully.

"I'm proud of you, you know?" said Piper as soon as the others had left.

Draco's head snapped up. He had waited forever to hear those words from his father, but somehow coming from her it meant so much more.

Before he could even think about what to say in response, she was hugging him again. He tensed. he could never get quite used to that feeling of being enveloped by another's arms. Especially when that other person really seems to care.

"Come on, I think I'm starting to get hungry myself," said Piper. "So, when you thought Paige was hurt, you actually cared?" she asked smiling.

"A Malfoy cares for no one but himself," he answered automatically.

"Not even if a Halliwell cares for this Malfoy? No matter how much of a stuck up, conceited and spoiled brat he is?"

He hesitated before he answered. "No," he said flatly.

His mother had cared for his father and look how that turned out. He would not be made a fool out of. He would not let his emotions get the best of him.

__

I just don't get this kid.

They entered the Great Hall and went their separate ways.

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Not a very quick update but it was certainly faster than the last. I personally don't care too much for this chapter, but hey, as long as you guys like it, it's all good. So tell me what you think.

By the way: I thought you should know why sometimes my updates take forever. Unlike some smarter people that plan their stories out, I don't. I can honestly say I have no idea what will happen in the next chapter. But I do know the general story line and how I want it to end. I just sit at my computer and start writing. Whatever I come up with is what the chapter will be. So please review! I'm almost at 200!!!!!! Luv, Piper.


	22. Christmas

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters.

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Chapter 22

Not much happened after the quidditch incident. It was quiet. A little too quiet. Phoebe hadn't even gotten a premonition and Harry's scar hadn't done more than twinge once in a while. They were starting to worry. If Voldemort was this quiet, he must be planning something...something big.

The days melted away faster than ice on a hot summer day, despite the fact that it was mid-December. Before everyone knew it, it was time for those who wished to return home for the holiday's to pack up. This year there was a record number of students going home.

Yet, as unusual as it was, what came as no surprise were the students who had chosen to stay.

The four common room held a total of seven students all together. The trio and Ginny were the only Gryffindors left, Draco and Blaise were the only Slytherins left and Luna Lovegood had the entire Ravenclaw common room to herself. The Hufflepuff common room was completely empty.

The sisters, instead of returning home to their family for the holidays, they brought their family to Hogwarts. They wanted to make sure they could keep an eye on everyone, especially Harry and Draco. So, they thought up a nice comfy cot for Chris to sleep on in the living room because he absolutely refused the couch, and Leo and Wyatt, of course, stayed in Piper's room.

The only other professors who stayed behind were McGonagall, Snape and Dumbledore.

A few days before Christmas, Dumbledore allowed those who had stayed a trip to Hogsmeade. In fact, he even joined them saying that he had a few last minute gifts to buy. The sisters were excited to visit the village as they had heard many students talking about it over the past few months.

Everyone bundled up and headed to the village in three white carriages. Despite being all one color, they were quite lovely. They had no decoration on them except for the Hogwarts crest, also in white, embedded on the side. The carriages were being pulled by transfigured mice, as the others would soon find out, but for now they were beautiful white horses.

When they finally arrived at the village, Dumbledore had a quick word to say before everyone scattered.

"I want you all back here in three hours," he said smiling. "And just to make sure no one forgets," he said as he pulled out his wand, "I want everyone to have one of these."

He waved his wand around in a funny motion and POP! There were identical watches on everyone's wrists, including, much to their dismay, the adults. The watches now read _three hours._ Dumbledore snapped his fingers and the watches promptly began to count down. As soon as they did, everyone went their separate ways.

Harry, Leo, Chris, Wyatt and Ron went off in search of gifts for the girls. Hermione, Luna, and Ginny went with the sisters to find gifts for the boys. Draco and Blaise wandered off on their own followed closely by Snape, and Dumbledore and McGonagall decided to start at the Three Broomsticks.

After going to nearly all the stores in the village, the girls were nearly done. Except Hermione, that is, who had randomly decided to get something for Draco.

"Mione, why in the world would you want to waste your money on the ferret?" asked Ginny shocked when Hermione voiced her idea.

"Well, because, because," Hermione looked at Piper pleadingly, not really sure why she wanted to get him a gift in the first place.

Piper shrugged. She thought it was great of Hermione to make the effort but she also wanted her to be able to stick up for herself.

Instead, Paige spoke up. "He's not that bad, really. Once you get passed the cold, cruel, evil, malevolent, vicious-

"Paige," Piper warned.

"Oh right. He's just a big fluffy teddy bear on the inside," she finished.

Everyone laughed, except Luna who was staring dreamily out the window. Ron and the others were passing by.

"Hey Ron, why's that creepy girl staring at you?" asked Chris motioning towards the shop window.

Ron looked over, blushed furiously and mumbled something incoherent before walking quickly ahead.

"I think someone has a crush," said Leo smiling.

To everyone's amusement, Ron looked horrified at the thought and blushed his brightest shade of Weasley red yet.

That group of guys was quickly replaced by the Slytherins, including Snape.

Piper slipped unnoticed out of the shop and headed towards the group of three.

Snape saw her coming and momentarily thought of walking ahead but stood his ground.

"Hello, boys," said Piper. "Professor," she added seeing the look on Snape's face after being referred to as 'boy.'

"Would you mind if I borrowed Draco for a second?" she asked.

"Not at all, Professor. Come along, Blaise."

"What did I do now?" asked Draco clearly annoyed once Snape and Blaise were out of ear shot.

"You tell me," she asked hands in her pockets.

"_You _wanted to talk to _me_, remember?"

"Did you finish your shopping yet?"

"Yes. Why?" he asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Because, I bet I know someone you forgot."

"Really," he said doubtfully, "Who?"

"Hermione," she said simply. She was almost amused at the look on his face.

"You have got to be joking," he said horrified.

"And why is that?" Piper asked seriously.

"Well...because! She's...her! Besides, it's not like she's getting _me_ anything."

She gave him a look.

"She is? Why? Probably because _you_ made her?"

Another look.

"She _wanted_ to?" he asked incredulously.

"You know, it's great when you have a kid who can connect the dots all by himself."

He looked stumped.

"Look, I already told you this before. I'm not asking you to be best friends. All I'm saying is that she made the effort, _by herself_. I'm giving you the same choice. No one's making you. That's the great part about being a good guy. No one makes you do anything you don't want to do. You have choices. Can you say the same about your Dad and his friends? Don't think too hard now."

She gave him a small wave and left a very confused teen alone with his thoughts as she made her way back into the store.

Phoebe was looking around with Hermione who seemed a nervous wreck. "What if I can't find anything good. Knowing Malfoy, he'll probably burn it if he doesn't like it."

"This place is full of stuff. I'm sure you'll find something," Phoebe comforted.

She then wandered over to were Paige, Ginny and Luna were looking. "What are you guys looking for?"

"Well, me and Paige are finished. We were helping Luna pick out something for Ron. He's my own brother and I have no idea what to suggest. That's when you know something's wrong," Ginny said grinning. "Want to help?"

"Sure," said Piper.

Back outside, Draco caught up with Snape and Blaise.

"What did Professor Halliwell want?" asked Blaise curiously.

"She told me that Granger was getting me a gift. She reckons it would be a good idea if I returned the gesture."

"Man!" said Blaise shocked. "Are you going to? I mean, did she say she'll give you detention if you don't?"

"No. She said it was my choice," said Draco, still wondering what to do.

"Really? That's odd. These new professors are a bit strange, but I like them. So what are you going to get her?"

"How the bloody hell should I know. She's a girl. What do you get a girl? Especially one as demented as Granger."

Blaise laughed and they walked into a nearby store.

Snape, who had been listening to the exchange carefully a few feet away, was shocked to say the least. Not once had Draco said 'mudblood' or insulted Hermione, unless you count the 'demented' comment. And to top it all off, he was actually going to buy her something.

He was changing. A lot of things were changing, but the source was the same...the Charmed Ones.

Snape wandered into the same store Draco and Blaise had gone into thinking to himself.

What do you get a girl, indeed.

Once everyone was finished shopping, they met in front of the Three Broomsticks. They glanced at their watches and watched as their last minute wound down.

3,2,1...

When the clocks reached zero, they vanished from everyone's wrist and Dumbledore and McGonagall came walking out of the Three Broomsticks.

"I trust everyone had plenty of time to finish their shopping," he began cheerfully. "Now, it has come to my attention that there is a slight problem with the carriages. It seems they have become a bit temperamental as to who they will allow inside while we were all shopping. So, the first carriage will only seat those who have scored more than a hundred percent in any given subject."

All of a sudden, Hermione, Blaise, Ginny, Draco and Piper began floating towards the first carriage.

"Very good," Dumbledore said as though this sort of thing happened all the time. "The next carriage will only seat those who have ever received a failing grade in any subject."

Much to their embarrassment, Harry, Ron, Luna, and Chris floated towards the next carriage.

"The last carriage, being a little less picky than the others, will seat the rest of us. All aboard!"

Each group of people mounted the carriage and began the trip back to school.

In Harry's carriage, Ron couldn't help but ask. "So, what subject did you fail?" he said trying not to look Luna directly in her enormous eyes.

"Potions," she said airily.

"Ha, me too," said Harry smiling.

"I guess me too," Chris chimed in. "Although, you call it chemistry where I went to school."

They all had a good laugh.

In Piper's carriage, you could cut the tension with a knife. She sat between Draco and Blaise and Hermione and Ginny sat across from them next to each other. She tried to start a conversation.

"So, what subjects did you guys do so good in?" she said looking at Ginny first.

"Well, I got a hundred and ten percent on a transfiguration essay once. I think that's my favorite class."

"Nice. And you are?" she said looking at Blaise.

"Blaise Zabini. I got a hundred and fifteen percent on one of my muggle studies tests. I think the

things muggles have come up with to replace magic are quite clever. Some are even useful." At this he received and admiring look from Hermione and Ginny and a withering glare from Draco.

"Good for you Blaise. Draco?"

"I got a hundred and five percent on a potions essay," he said, playing along to appease Piper.

Hermione was next. "Well, I got a one hundred and twenty percent on a Charms test, a hundred and ten percent on a transfiguration test and a hundred and fifteen on an arithmancy test."

The carriage stared at her in awe. "That's great Hermione," said Piper.

"What about you professor?" asked Blaise, eyes shining with curiosity.

Ginny nodded in agreement and Blaise momentarily caught her eye as she looked over at Piper.

"I once got a hundred and five on an essay I had to write about witches for my English class," she said with a wry smile.

"You made that up," accused Draco.

"Did not," said Piper and she poked him hard in the stomach.

He let out a soft chuckle.

Ginny leaned in towards Hermione and whispered. "He's not that ugly when he's not being a git," she said smiling.

Blaise watched as Ginny whispered something to Hermione and they both smiled.

Cute smiles, he thought.

Just as everyone was getting comfortable, the ride was over and they were back at the castle. They all exited the carriages and to their surprise, the horses that had been pulling the carriages had transformed back into mice.

"I borrowed the idea from a wonderful muggle movie," said Dumbledore smiling.

----------------------

On Christmas Eve, Dumbledore announced that there would be a small feast in the Great Hall. So he was now to be found sitting at the head of a long table waiting for everyone else to arrive.

He was waiting patiently when McGonagall and Snape appeared in the doorway.

"Wonderful. As you can see, you are the first to arrive," he beamed.

As they made to enter, Dumbledore cleared his throat and pointed above their heads with a mischievous glint in his eye.

Snape looked up and to his horror saw mistletoe in the doorway.

"Headmaster, you cannot be serious," said Snape looking at McGonagall wearily.

"I am. Come now Severus, where is your Christmas spirit? And how many times must I tell you to call me Albus? Besides, you won't be able to enter until you agree. Wonderful things, force fields are."

Sure enough, when Snape tried to get through the door, he couldn't. It was as if there were invisible hands pushing him back out.

"Albus, I understand that you want to spread some joy, but isn't this a bit much?" asked McGonagall.

"Not at all."

"Very well," she said giving up.

Before Snape could react, McGonagall had planted a swift kiss on his cheek leaving him utterly baffled.

"Why Severus, I do believe that is the most color I have seen on your face in quite a few years," said McGonagall grinning as she went to sit down. Snape followed and they waited for the others.

Next to arrive were Harry, Ron, Ginny, Hermione, and Luna. Dumbledore cleared his throat and they all looked up.

Ginny and Hermione started laughing, Ron looked like he'd be sick, Harry was smiling and Luna was looking at Ron dreamily.

"No offense, Ron, but you are my brother," said Ginny and she walked over to Harry and pecked him on the cheek. "Pass it on," she said to Harry.

Harry looked at Ron disgustedly, which made everyone laugh, and placed a swift kiss on Hermione's cheek. "Pass it on," he said cheerfully.

Hermione looked at Ron who now looked like he had been sentenced to death. "Oh honestly, Ron, grow up," she said before kissing his cheek. "Pass it on."

"To who?" he said stupidly.

They all looked from him to Luna and back again.

He gulped.

Everything seemed to go in slow motion as he walked over to Luna. The trip seemed to take hours instead of the seconds that it actually took. She's just a girl. What's the big deal? He didn't know.

She stood waiting patiently for his lips to meet her face. No one noticed, but when he finally did kiss her cheek, her eyes closed ever so slightly and she enjoyed the moment, not knowing how long it would be until it happened again.

Before Ron knew it, it was over and a sneering drawl cut through the giggles.

"Bet he's never done that before," Draco said to Blaise.

He promptly received a sharp tap on the shoulder from Piper. They had all been watching and knew what they now had to do.

Piper kissed Leo, who had no objections; Paige kissed Blaise, much to his surprise; and Phoebe kissed Draco and Chris, who had adamantly refused at first but Phoebe was able to coax him with a "Come here, dear nephew."

Once everyone was inside and seated, the feast began. It was much like the normal Hogwarts feasts, but on a much smaller scale. All of the food that was normally present was there and everyone gladly stuffed themselves.

Once everyone was done, all they wanted to do was get some sleep.

"I wish you all a good nights sleep and a Merry Christmas. But first, my gift to you."

He waved his wand and small wrapped boxes appeared in front of everyone. The students eagerly tore theirs open while the adults were a little more apprehensive.

Each student had received a pair of socks in their house colors and a box of Bertie Bott's Every-Flavored Beans. The adults had also received socks in their favorite color with their zodiac sign, and their candy was chocolate, much to their relief.

"What better gifts to give than warm socks and wonderful candy. Just a hint of caution, watch out for the yellow beans...they might be ear wax. Good night and Merry Christmas to all."

Full of food and Christmas cheer, everyone went to bed.

-----------------

Christmas morning dawned chilly and bright. The whole of Hogwarts was caked in a fresh blanket of snow. Hagrid's hut resembled a small ginger bread house covered with vanilla frosting.

Harry and Ron woke up, quickly pulled on their pajama robes and went down to the common room to find Hermione, Ginny and to Ron's horror, Luna.

"She's the only one in Ravenclaw who stayed behind. She was alone," explained Ginny seeing the look on Ron's face.

"Did you already open your presents?" Harry asked joining the girls who were sitting on the floor in front of the tree.

"Yes, I did. Thanks again for the nice quill, Ginny. I'll need it when I start to work for the Quibbler. And thanks for the interesting book, Hermione. I knew there had been sightings, but I never knew there were enough to write a whole book about them."

"What sightings?" Harry whispered to Ginny.

She shrugged. "Let's get to it," Ginny said and they tore into the pile of presents.

"Wow! Thanks, Harry," Hermione said beaming as she opened his gift. It was a very large, very complicated book on apparating.

"We have to learn soon and I thought it would help," Harry replied.

"It definitely will. And thanks for the scarf Ron, it's lovely."

"I wish I could say the same," said Ginny looking at the earmuffs Ron had gotten her. "Thanks, Ron. Don't be too offended if I never wear them," she giggled.

"Oh my," Hermione said suddenly opening her last gift.

It was the most beautiful quill she had ever seen. The feather was pitch black but from half way down the quill to the tip, it looked like it had been dipped in silver. They silver was so shiny, it looked like it was still wet.

She turned it around in her fingers and felt a scratch on the silver. Further inspection showed her that it was her initials carved into the quill. She looked around the floor to see if a note or a card had fallen out. Sure enough, there was a small piece of parchment on the floor at her knees.

She picked it up and it read: _For all your note-taking. It's all you do._

"Ha ha. Very funny, Harry. Thank you, it's beautiful," she said.

"Don't thank me. I didn't buy it," said Harry.

Hermione looked perplexed. "Ron?" she asked not daring to believe it.

He shook his head. "Nope. Sorry."

"But who?" she wondered aloud.

"Maybe it was Draco," said Luna, joining the conversation and surprising everyone.

"Malfoy?!" said Harry. "It's not possible. Why would he buy you something?"

"Because I got him something," she said just above a whisper.

"What?!" said the boys in unison.

"I was trying to make an effort," said Hermione, looking at them sternly. "But how would he know, unless one of you told him?" she questioned, looking at Ginny and Luna.

"I didn't say anything. I was looking for Ron's gift," said Luna.

"You were?" blushed Ron, as Luna handed him a box.

"I didn't say anything either, Mione. And these two didn't even know," said Ginny nodding towards Harry and Ron who was now unwrapping his gift.

"Wow. Thanks, Luna." She had gotten him a set of Chudley Cannon gloves complete with a matching scarf.

Hermione was left wondering. First, if it really had been Draco who had given her the quill, and second, how he had found out about her gift.

-----------------------

Draco woke and found himself unusually eager to open his gifts. He looked over at Blaise's bed and found him to be asleep so he decided to wait a few minutes for him to wake.

However, to Draco Malfoy, patience was not a virtue so he took a pillow from his bed and threw it full force at Blaise's head.

Blaise woke with a start and looked groggily around.

"Oh good. You're up. Let's go."

They pulled on their robes and headed to their empty common room. Under the tree several presents were visible.

Draco immediately burned the present that had been sent from his father. He didn't like the smell that was coming from the package. As soon as the box had hit the flames it had burst open to reveal a vile looking liquid.

"Merry Christmas to you to," he said bitterly.

He picked up another small box, this one from Paige, and began to unwrap it. In it he found the very last thing he had expected. It was the picture of him in the pink apron with the sisters the night he had detention with them. It was in a silver frame and carved into it were the words _Pretty in Pink._

Draco couldn't help but laugh out loud. Blaise was rolling on the ground when Draco finally agreed to show him the picture.

Together, Piper and Phoebe had to have given him what amounted to a years worth of candy and Zonko's products.

He had one gift left. He unwrapped it and found himself to be surprised.

"Whoa. Who got you that?" Blaise asked.

It was a personalized stationery set. The paper was a glinting silver and on the bottom of every page his name was emblazed in shining green letters. A serpent also slithered its way around every page. The quill it came with was also silver and the ink was green.

"Granger," was all he could say. He didn't know what he had expected from her, but this certainly wasn't it. It was actually a decent gift, though it was hard for him to admit it.

He ripped a page out of the set took the quill and scribbled a quick note on it. "I'm going to the owlery. I'll be right back. Why don't you go to the kitchens and get us some breakfast."

"Sure thing. I didn't much feel like going down to the Great hall anyway," said Blaise as he slipped on his slippers.

--------------------------------------

Chris was rudely awoken by the rest of his family thundering down the stairs to open gifts.

"Come on, Mom, five more minutes," he said through a yawn.

"Merry Christmas to you too," said Piper, putting Wyatt down next to the tree.

They had all opened their gifts and everyone was very pleased. The sisters even got quite the surprise to see that Draco had given them each a personal I.O.U. that read: _For whatever you might need, Professor. No aprons._

He has no idea what he just got himself into," said Leo smiling.

Phoebe had gotten an even bigger surprise when she saw that Snape had given her an exquisite smelling perfume labeled: _Essence_.

------------------

"You know what guys, me and Luna are going to go down to the kitchen for some breakfast. We'll bring you up some food."

Ginny and Luna walked through the deserted hall of the school in their pajamas, robes and slippers.

"Do you fancy Ron?" asked Ginny suddenly.

Luna looked at her pensively before answering. "I suppose so."

Ginny smiled to herself as she tickled the pear that opened the door to the kitchens. When they walked in they saw the back of a jet black head.

"Hey!" Ginny called.

The intruder turned around.

"Oh it's you."

"Nice to see you too, Weasley," Blaise said, brown eyes sparkling.

Ginny turned to a house-elf at her knees and said. "Could you please get us breakfast for five in something easy to carry. Thank you," she said smiling sweetly.

"Certainly, miss," the house-elf squeaked and ran off.

"So, Weasley...where's my gift," said Blaise, taking in Ginny's fiery red locks and emerald eyes.

"You first, Zabini," Ginny challenged.

"Come closer and you'll see."

He couldn't explain the sudden urge to talk to her. The same thing had happened in the carriage to Hogwarts but they had arrived before he could say anything.

Before she could answer, the house-elf was back with her order. "Thanks, again," she said to the elf. "Zabini," she said nodding her head and turning to head out of the kitchens.

Blaise smacked himself in the head for being so forward with her.

"What was _that_ all about," Ginny mused to herself once they were back in the corridor.

"Maybe he fancies you," Luna supplied.

"What? No way. He's a Slytherin. I'm a Gryffindor," Ginny stated flatly.

"And I'm a Ravenclaw. I really don't see what that has to do with anything. Do you fancy him?"

"I barely know him."

"That's not an answer."

"No. But I supposes he isn't exactly bad looking," Ginny admitted.

"Well, then...that's a start," said Luna and she began humming _Weasley is Our King_.

They got back to the common room to find the trio in a stunned silence.

"What's wrong?" asked Ginny.

Hermione held up a note written on silver paper with green ink. It said two words.

Thank you.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To those who celebrate it: Happy Thanksgiving! I hope this makes your day a little better. I have some good news. I have already started planning a sequel to this story. If all goes well, it should be great. I can't tell you about the next chapter because I don't know what it will be about (lol), but I can tell you that in a few chapters this story will be done and the sequel will begin.

In the sequel you will see more of the 'ships' that I am starting to introduce. Plus a frenzy of new people. People that I love and I hope you will love too. I can tell you this, the sequel will not only be a Charmed/HP crossover but I'm throwing another show in there as well. One that if you see my bio on fanfic you might figure it out.

Thanks for reading and please review!! Piper


	23. Sunnydale

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters.

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Last time:

They got back to the common room to find the trio in a stunned silence.

"What's wrong?" asked Ginny.

Hermione held up a note written on silver paper with green ink. It said two words.

Thank you.

---

Chapter 23

After the trio, Ginny and Luna had finished their breakfast, Harry and Ron suggested that they go outside for a game of quidditch.

They went back to their rooms to get properly dressed and met in front of the Great Hall.

"I don't think Dumbledore would mind if we borrowed some of the school brooms," said Harry as they walked to the quidditch supply room. "How many do we need? Three?"

"Actually I have a broom," said Luna. "It's a Nimbus Two Thousand." She had been standing a few feet away and no one had really noticed she had a broom.

"Okay, two then," said Harry reaching into one of the closets and pulling out two school brooms.

"We'll need the quaffle, bludgers and snitch too," said Ron.

"Couldn't you think of anything else to do besides play quidditch," Hermione complained. "I wanted to start on that book you gave me, Harry."

Before she knew it Harry and Ron had locked their arms around hers and she was practically being dragged towards the pitch.

"Hermione, you are going to learn the meaning of the word 'vacation' even if it kills you," said Harry.

"If I fall off that broom, it just might," she said pulling away, but still continuing towards the pitch.

Once there, Harry handed a beaters club to Hermione and Ginny.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" asked Hermione, shocked.

"If a bludger comes at you...hit it," said Ginny simply. "Mione, you're supposed to be the smart one. Just treat quidditch like any other new spell your learning and you'll be fine. Hell, you might even turn out better than Harry."

"Hey. I heard that," said Harry in feigning a hurt look.

Everyone mounted their brooms and kicked off the ground except Harry.

"We better not let the snitch out just yet," he called to Ron who had already taken position in front of the goal hoops.

Harry pulled out the quaffle and threw it into the air. He also released one bludger before soaring into the air to join the others.

Hermione was hovering next to Ginny, who was next to Luna, who had the quaffle. They were all facing Ron, while Harry did some laps.

Luna raced towards Ron, faked left and threw the quaffle right. He caught on at the last second and was able to catch it.

Not bad. She almost had me.

They did a few round like this, taking turns throwing the quaffle.

It was Ron's turn with Harry at the hoops, when they heard a chilling scream from behind.

"Aaaahhhh!"

Hermione seemed frozen in mid air and the bludger was headed straight for her.

Ginny, who was in front of her, didn't seem the least bit concerned.

Harry and Ron sped towards her, but Ginny stopped them. "She needs to get over this."

They looked up and sure enough, Hermione looked petrified, but determined all the same. And as soon as the bludger was close enough, WHAM! Hermione hit it with as much strength as she could muster and it went soaring in the other direction. She turned around and flew towards the rest of them.

"Ginny, I hate you. But...thanks. I guess it was kind of a rush." Everyone laughed.

"Can we join in?" came a familiar voice from behind them.

Everyone turned in mid air and saw Blaise and Draco hovering behind them. At first, no one answered.

"Well?" Blaise prompted.

Ginny looked over at Harry and Ron, who looked doubtful, but Hermione seemed to be considering it.

"Okay," agreed Ginny before anyone spoke.

Blaise smiled at her, which she tried to ignore, and she looked around. "Here's what we should do. Some one can be the referee, then we can have three people on each team. One person can be the keeper, the other can double as a chaser and beater to make it more interesting and the last person is obviously the seeker."

When she finished no one seemed to have any objections. On the contrary, everyone looked excited. Except Draco, that is, who looked bored.

It was Blaise who had talked him into coming down to the pitch when they had spotted the others flying around.

"Alright," said Ginny glad to be taking the lead for once. "Who wants to be the ref?"

"I will," said Luna. "I know all the rules."

"Great," said Ginny with a smile. "Now the sticky part. Who wants to join those two?" she said glancing at Blaise and Draco.

Blaise eyed Ginny quickly, hoping she would volunteer.

"Blaise? Blaise?" Draco called quite annoyed at being ignored. "Who the hell are you making eyes at?"

"Huh? No one," he said looking quickly away.

"Sure. It is the little Weasley? I guess she's not too bad. At least she's a pure-blood."

"Shut up," Blaise snapped quietly and sent Draco a glare.

It was a sign of what good friends they were, that Draco conceded with out a word.

On the Gryffindor side of the skies, there was a small debate going on. No one wanted to go on the other team. Harry and Ron had obviously been the first to refuse, so that left Ginny and Hermione.

"You know what? I'll do it," said Hermione suddenly.

"WHAT?"

"You heard me. I'll do it. I'm tired of being the boring and predictable one. I'll go."

"Are you sure that's a good idea," asked Harry, doubtfully.

"You're the one who said I should have fun this vacation, right? Well, I'm trying something new. Let me enjoy it."

When Blaise and Draco had heard the yell that had come from the others, they had feared the worst.

Oh no, Potter or Weasley. I knew it. I knew they wouldn't let one of their precious girls-

Draco's thoughts were interrupted when he saw Hermione flying forward.

"Granger?" he said incredulously, while his eyes almost popped out of their sockets. "You have got to be kidding."

"Why's that Malfoy?" she challenged.

"Have you ever even been on a broom?" he questioned.

"Of course I have," she said indignantly. "That one time in first year."

"Well, this should be good. I hate to break it to you Granger, but flying is the one thing you won't be good at," he said smirking.

"We'll see," she said, more determined than she had felt in a while.

"What position do you want?" asked Blaise.

Hermione thought for a second. Keeper was out of the question as she didn't want balls being thrown forcefully at her face. Being a beater wouldn't have been bad, but then she'd have to be a chaser too, and she didn't fancy the idea of Ginny, Ron or Harry body slamming her to try and take the quaffle away, so that left only one choice.

"I want to be the seeker."

"What?!" Draco shrieked, a little too femininely. "You can't! I'm the seeker!"

"But I'd be no good at anything else," Hermione whined and looked at Blaise, puppy-dog eyes in place. She knew that out of the two, he'd be more likely to let her have her way.

"Just let her have it, Draco. It's just for fun. Maybe we'll play a second game and we'll all switch."

Draco looked at his supposed 'friend' in shock.

He sputtered at a loss for words and then said, "Fine. But you better not lose."

Hermione glared at first but then her face softened as she remembered the note. "Your welcome, by the way. I thought you'd like it, what with the snakes and all. You didn't, um, get me anything did you?" she asked carefully.

"If that's supposed to be a joke, it wasn't very funny," he said coldly before flying in the opposite direction.

"Ignore him. He's just mad that I made him come out here. He did get you that quill. I think it was something Professor Halliwell told him."

"Oh," she said understanding. "She made him."

"No, actually she said he didn't have to if he didn't want to. Don't try to understand. He's been my friend for years and I still don't get him sometimes."

She nodded.

"Hey, I have an idea, let's land for a second and switch brooms," said Blaise.

Hermione looked at him suspiciously.

"Potter has a Firebolt and so do I. Even if you get near the snitch, you won't have a chance at catching it on _that_ broom."

So, Hermione followed Blaise to the ground and they switched brooms.

"Now remember, this is a top of the line broom. It'll react with the slightest touch," he told her.

Then they rose back up.

Hermione loved the speed that she now had. She went back and forth a few times to get the feel of it, and was ready.

"You guys ready?" Harry called from a few feet away.

"Yeah," called Blaise. "Let out the snitch."

Harry cast a spell towards the box on the ground and the snitch flew into the air.

Everyone looked at Luna, who surprisingly had a whistle in her hands. She blew it and they took off.

To no one's shock, Harry began to look for the snitch. To his utter surprise, he saw Hermione a few feet below, also scanning the field for the snitch.

He flew down to meet her. "Hey. You're the seeker?"

"Yeah. Isn't this weird. Me against you? I never would have thought," she said smiling. "But it is fun," she grudgingly admitted. "And I love this broom. I can't believe he let me use it." All the while she never stopped looking.

"Yeah, it's a great broom."

From down below, a whistle blew. Harry and Hermione turned around and saw Luna lecturing Draco.

"That was an illegal attack towards the keeper. You were not in the goal zone at the time that the bludger was hit. Penalty shot to Ginny."

Draco looked furious. "Goal zone? What the hell are you talking about Lovegood?"

But Ginny had already flown towards Blaise's end of the pitch poised to take her shot. She hovered directly level with him but about ten feet away. He saw her eyes flicker to his left, her right.

She's feigning left.

Ginny readied her arm and threw the quaffle with all her strength to her right. Blaise who thought she had been faking flew in the other direction and obviously missed.

Clapping hands were heard, and not just Harry and Ron's. They looked at the stands and saw the adults sitting in the teachers booth watching. They all seemed to be quite enjoying the spectacle.

"We better get going," said Harry. "Good luck."

"You're gonna need it," said Hermione smiling.

I have to see the snitch first. If it comes down to a race, Harry will win no matter how fast this broom is. He's the more experienced flier. I have to see it first, then some how make him think it's in the opposite direction so I have plenty of time to catch it.

Hermione's brain was working on overdrive. She really wanted to win. Mostly so she could rub it in Draco's face. But it would be nice to be good at something other than school.

Draco scored a few times with the quaffle but so did Ginny. The score was fifty to forty with Harry's team in the lead.

I have to catch it soon before Ginny scores anymore. Draco's not a good chaser, he's too used to being seeker.

Then she saw it. The snitch was at Blaise's end of the field, hovering behind the right goal post. If not for the angle she had, she wouldn't have seen it.

She chanced a glance at Harry, he too was scanning the field. She noticed, however that he was facing the hoops directly. Surely he couldn't see it, otherwise he would have gone after it already.

She moved slowly towards Blaise. If she flew to fast, Harry would catch on. When she was about twenty feet away, she turned around and faced Harry. She caught his eye, smiled and waved. Then she looked down passed him and opened her eyes dramatically.

He whirled around thinking she had seen the snitch. As soon as she saw the back of his head, she sped off in the other direction towards Blaise. He saw her coming and quickly moved out of the way.

By the time Harry had realized what had happened, Hermione was nearly there. He turned around and sped down the pitch as fast as he could. He was right behind her when she stopped in mid air. He had to swerve upwards to avoid a painful collision.

He looked down and saw Hermione beaming with the snitch in her hand.

"I've got it, I've got it, I've got it!" she shrieked.

The adults in the stands were clapping.

Blaise and Draco flew over to Hermione followed closely by Ginny, Ron and Luna.

"Great job, Hermione!" Ginny said smiling.

"Yeah, good one," said Harry a bit embarrassed to have been out witted.

Hermione looked quickly at Draco who looked a bit impressed but refused to say anything, and they flew back down to the ground where the adults were waiting.

"That was very entertaining, indeed," said Dumbledore. "But I am afraid the weather will be getting a bit turbulent. It will be best if we head inside."

"Hermione that was great. You're a pretty good flier," said Paige.

"Thanks. I never thought playing quidditch might actually be fun. You should try it."

"Yay!" squealed Ginny. "We converted you. You finally see the quidditch light."

Up ahead, Harry was walking with Ron behind Draco and Blaise.

"Hey, Zabini. It was good of you to let Hermione use your broom," said Harry.

"No problem. She's a pretty good flier for not having much experience."

"She must've read a book on it at some point," joked Ron.

Harry felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and saw Snape.

"Occlumency. My office, eight o'clock."

Harry's high spirits were instantly diminished and him and Ron trudged along.

Phoebe had overheard.

"Hey, Severus."

Snape stopped dead in his tracks and Phoebe caught up.

"I just wanted to thank you for the perfume. It smells heavenly. Where'd you buy it?"

"I made it," he said, trying to ignore how close she was walking next to him.

"Really? Wow, well it's amazing. Thanks again. By the way, I couldn't help but over hear you talking to Harry. I need to ask you a favor."

They had stopped and everyone else had gone ahead. Snape realized that his hands had started sweating.

"I know you get frustrated really fast with Harry and everything, but I was wondering if you could at least _try_ to be patient with him. I have a feeling that he'll get a lot better if you weren't pressuring him so much, not to mention yelling, screaming, insulting-

He cut her off. "Phoebe, I understand. And although you don't understand why I am the way I am with him, you might some day."

"You hated his father. What's not to understand. Harry isn't James."

He looked flustered to say the least. "How did you know that?"

"Oh. I'm an empath. I guess I forgot to mention that. Will you try and control your temper...for me?" she looked up at him pleadingly.

"For you," he answered.

"Yay!" she squealed, much like Ginny had done earlier. "Thank you."

She reached up and put her arms around his neck in a hug and kissed his cheek before walking off.

He didn't know what to say or do so he just stood there. Even after she had gone and the snow had started to fall.

---

Phoebe walked back to the castle and found Piper and Paige waiting for her.

"What was _that_ all about?" asked Piper.

"What was what about?" asked Phoebe innocently.

"Snape," said Piper.

"Yeah, spill it sister. You like him don't you?" said Paige.

"Maybe. I guess. At least he's not evil. I've dated enough evil men to last me a life time. Hell, Cole was enough evil to last me a life time. There's just something about him. I don't know. I just want to see where it goes and I want my sisters' support."

"Well, of course, sweetie. Does this mean you two are a couple?" asked Paige.

"I don't know if he sees it that way," said Phoebe truthfully.

"You think you could get him to wash his hair?" asked Piper, grinning.

"Yeah, maybe if she does it for him," whispered Paige suggestively.

"Hello! Standing right here."

---

The wind was howling as the snow fell violently outside. By the looks of the enchanted ceiling in the Great Hall, the storm wasn't going to let up anytime soon.

Dumbledore had set up a cozy table right in the middle of the Hall full of food. All around were other, smaller tables set up like stations. One had a wizard's chess game set up, another was set up for exploding snap, and still others were set up with what could only be muggle games.

Everyone went around and experimented with the different games. Harry, Hermione, Luna and sometimes Blaise, who having taken muggle studies knew what some of the games were, couldn't help but laugh at the others when they shouted at game pieces to move and nothing happened.

Harry's spirits were instantly crushed when he heard the clock strike eight.

"I'll see you later guys."

"Harry, wait," Phoebe called from behind him. "Look, I know how much you hate this but you have to try. It's for everyone's own good."

"I know," he said wearily.

"If Severus loses his temper, just give him a second to calm down."

"Severus?" he questioned, looking at her curiously.

"Professor Snape," she corrected quickly. "Concentrate on clearing your head. Don't worry you'll get it."

She ruffled his hair and went back to Paige and Piper who were having a little to much fun playing wizard's chess. The pieces were very reluctant to take orders from them anymore as they found it quite amusing when they got crushed.

---

Harry made his way down to the dungeons trying to keep in mind what Phoebe had said. And yet at the same time, trying to keep out of his mind what Phoebe had said. Why had she called him 'Severus?'

He controlled his breathing and tried to clear his mind before he got to the door. Then he knocked.

"Come in."

He opened the door and found Snape sitting behind his desk. There was a single chair sitting directly in front of his desk as well. This is were Harry sat.

"If we're going to do this, we'll do it right," Snape began. "Close your eyes."

Reluctantly, Harry agreed.

"Think of the ocean, only water, until you get closer. Now think of your mind as the depths of the ocean. From afar, too vast and general to be able to discern specific things. But up close, everything is visible. You need to keep the view as far away as possible. You always want your mind to be hidden well beneath the surface."

Strangely, Snape's bizarre analogy was working. Harry could picture everything he was saying and he understood what he had to do.

"Now, when I perform the spell concentrate on your breathing and keeping your mind hidden away, beneath the ocean, as it were. One, two three, legilimens!"

Harry tried his damnedest to remember what Snape said. He pictured the ocean, but he forgot his breathing.

He let out a breath that he didn't realize he was holding and he found himself once again running down the corridor in the Department of Mysteries.

Snape lifted the spell before it got too far. He knew that letting Harry relive it again would only make him weaker and more vulnerable.

"You forgot your breathing," said Snape, trying to keep his tone neutral.

"I know," answered a frustrated Harry. He was surprised that Snape hadn't snapped at him.

"Thank you," he said.

"For what?" Snape was taken aback.

"For lifting the spell, before...you know."

"Let's try again. This time, remember your breathing."

Harry nodded looking determined.

"Legilimens!"

Harry once again concentrated on a vast ocean. He tried not to think about anything else in the world but his breathing. He pictured him self sitting on the edge of a cliff overlooking a huge expansion of water. It was never ending. He closed his eyes and breathed slowly, and deeply every time.

Snape was looking, searching, prying, but all he could see was water. He was about to end the spell, quite impressed when the scene before him dramatically changed.

Water became land. The cliff now a regular stretch of highway road. A road...that stopped. An enormous hole stood in the middle of what looked like a desert. It was big enough to fit a small city comfortably. There was nothing all around.

Harry stood in front of this hole, peering down curiously. He turned around and saw one thing. Amidst the nothingness that was the desert, it stood out drastically.

A white sign with cheery letters was emblazoned: _Now Leaving-_

The vision was cut short. Harry's scar had started to throb painfully and Snape had ended the spell.

"Potter! What is it? What's wrong?"

The pain subsided slowly. Harry noticed that he had been dragged towards the chair and was now sitting. Snape was in front of him, kneeled on the floor and offering him something.

It was chocolate.

"I've heard this helps," he said sounding a little sarcastic. "What was that I just saw?"

"I don't know," Harry admitted after taking a bite out of the chocolate. "I've never seen that before. But...there's something wrong. My scar hurt. It hasn't done that in a while. He's happy."

Snape looked anxious and scared. What could make Voldemort happy? And what did it have to do with a hole in the middle of nowhere. "There was a sign," Snape remembered. "I ended the spell before I could see. What did it say?" he said to himself, wishing he had held the spell for a second longer.

Being in Harry's memory, he remembered it clearly.

"I know what it said."

"Well," he said impatiently.

"It said: now leaving Sunnydale."

"Get some rest Potter. Tomorrow we will report to the Headmaster's office and tell him what we know."

Harry nodded and got up to leave.

"Don't forget to clear your mind before you go to bed. And Potter...well done."

"Thank you, Professor," Harry said stunned before leaving the room.

Snape felt like he had just betrayed everything he believed in. How could he be civil with Potter?

"You did the right thing," a voice said from the fire.

Snape turned around slowly. "Spying, now are we?"

"Sorry, I couldn't help it. How'd it go?" Phoebe asked.

"Surprisingly well. Until the end that is. The Dark Lord is happy and I am afraid _that _it never a good thing. You wouldn't happen to know anything about a Sunnydale, would you?" he asked knowing it would be a long shot.

"Actually that does ring a bell. Hold on...yeah. There was an earthquake there last summer, before we came here actually. It swallowed the city whole. It's actually not far from where we live in California. Maybe an hour or so. What does that have to do with anything?"

Snape was even more confused than he was before. "It's a muggle city?"

"It was as far as I know. Why?"

"I don't know yet. What would the Dark Lord want with a hole in the ground where a muggle city called Sunnydale used to be?"

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Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Happy Kwanzaa and Happy Holiday's. Here a gift. I'm updating my other's too. Hope you like. Ask any questions you have. Know what would be a great gift...........REVIEWS!!!! Thanks! -Piper1019-


	24. I Told You So

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters.

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****

Last Time

Snape was even more confused than he was before. "It's a muggle city?"

"It was as far as I know. Why?"

"I don't know yet. What would the Dark Lord want with a hole in the ground where a muggle

city called Sunnydale used to be?"

------

Chapter 24

"Wait, he said 'well done?' _Snape_ told you 'well done?' asked Ron for the fifth time.

"Yes!" Harry answered for the fifth time. "I don't know what's going on but he's different. It's almost as if he's happier somehow."

"I don't think that's possible," said Ron.

"That's not the worst part. During occlumency...I saw something. Voldemort's happy."

Harry told them about the vision he had seen, not leaving out any details.

"Crazy nutter," said Ron. "What could he possibly want with a hole in the middle of a desert?"

"Honestly, you two. It's not just a hole. You said there was a sign, Harry. Obviously, there used to be a city there called Sunnydale. The question we should be asking ourselves is what could Voldemort want with a ruined city. I mean, you said there was nothing, right Harry?"

"Yeah. It was just a really big hole."

No one said anything for a while as they were all lost in thought so they decided to go to bed.

Once Harry had changed, he sat in his bed and tried to erase the days events from his mind. Or rather, he tried to drown his memory in the vast depths of the ocean that was his subconscious.

How the bloody hell did Snape come up with that analogy?

Harry pushed the thought from his mind and went to bed. That night he slept soundly, dreaming of nothing but the ocean.

------

The next day, Harry was to meet Snape in Dumbledore's office to discuss the events of the previous night.

Once Snape finished telling Dumbledore everything he knew, including what he had found out from Phoebe, Dumbledore didn't know what to say.

"There is nothing I can say. I haven't the slightest idea why Voldemort would be interested in the remains of this city, especially since it was a muggle city. But I can assure you that we cannot underestimate him. If he is happy, then there is a very good reason for it. We need answers, and the only way to get them is to go to the source."

"You mean, Sunnydale, Professor?" asked Harry.

"Yes, I am afraid so. I will contact the Order members immediately."

"Can I come too?" asked Harry.

"I don't think that is a very good idea. You would be an open target. I do not want to walk into any traps."

"You think it could be a trick?" asked Snape, wondering why he hadn't thought of that.

"Maybe, maybe not. There is only one way to be sure."

------

Piper and Paige would be going with Lupin and Tonks to Sunnydale, while Phoebe would be staying at the castle as vacation would be over in a day and classes would be resuming.

After everyone was introduced in Dumbledore's office later that day, they decided to head out.

"I think it would be faster if we all orbed," suggested Paige.

No one objected so they all held hands and orbed out of the office.

"That was quite a ride," said Tonks, letting go of Paige's hand. "Whoa."

In front of them lay the ruins of the city. Even calling them ruins was too much, as there was nothing there.

"You-know-who must have lost it for good. There's nothing here," Tonks mused. She walked to the edge of the massive hole and peered in.

"Do you really think an earthquake could have done this? Why isn't anything else damaged?" Remus wondered out loud.

"Good question. It looks more like it was sucked into itself. If there was an earthquake, then shouldn't there be some kind of remains. Broken buildings? Anything?" said Piper. "Wait...do you feel that? Something's..."

"Not right." finished Paige. "I feel it too. And it's definitely coming from in there," she said motioning towards the hole.

"Tonks, I think you should get away from there," warned Remus.

"Oh come on, Lupin. It's just a little hole. Okay, so it's a really big hole, but what could happen?"

Her question was answered when the ground crumpled beneath her and she began to fall.

"Tonks!" Remus yelled and ran forward.

"Piper freeze her!" Paige screamed.

Piper froze Tonks and she instantly stopped falling along with all the debris around her.

"Tonks!" Paige called out with both of her hands outstretched and Tonks was soon orbing out of the hole.

"That was too close," said Tonks. "Thanks."

"Do you think maybe we should go down there?" asked Paige hesitantly.

"Go into the giant hole that's probably an earthquake waiting to happen? Oh yeah, that's a great idea, sis," said Piper.

"I'm serious."

"So was I," Piper retorted.

"How are we supposed to find anything out from up here?" Paige argued.

"She's right Piper," Remus said calmly.

"Alright. But don't say I didn't warn you."

They orbed down and found nothing more than dirt and debris. They now walked on top of not just dirt but wood, glass, bricks and other materials.

"I'm telling you this is not a good idea," Piper said again. "OW!" she yelled suddenly.

"What?" three worried voices answered.

"I just stubbed my toe on...something?" she said looking down.

Beneath her, buried in the ground was a circular and metal disk-like object about five feet in diameter. It had strange carving around it and a picture of a creature with horns in the center.

"What the hell is _that_?" Piper asked, backing away from it.

Tonks was bent down inspecting it. "It looks like a seal of some sort. Remus?"

"I've never seen anything like it, but-"

He was cut off by the unmistakable sound of apparating. All of a sudden they were surrounded by a dozen death eaters who looked very surprised to see them there.

"Diffindo!" one of them yelled catching Piper off guard and sending her flying backwards and crashing into the seal with a large gash across her stomach.

The duels began. Remus and Tonks managed to stun a few of them and Paige was doing her best to deflect most of the spells. She even managed to send a few of the spells back to their originator causing very interesting effects.

One of the death eaters suddenly caught sight of Piper, bloodied and on the seal, and let out a yell. "Retreat! Now!"

As quickly as they had come, they were gone.

Paige rushed over to Piper. "Piper! Piper, are you okay?"

As if being pulled by invisible strings Piper began to rise, until she was standing again. She hovered inches above the seal and look like a puppet. Blood was pouring down her stomach and it was joining the small puddle already in the seal. This is when they noticed that the seal was faintly glowing.

"I'm just fine," said Piper in a raspy voice, eyes still closed.

Suddenly her eyes snapped open to reveal white orbs were her brown ones used to be.

Paige let out a yell. "Piper what's wrong with you?! Snap out of it!"

Piper raised her hands ready to attack when Paige slapped her hard across the face.

Piper blinked slowly and shook her head, looking stunned. "OW!" she said looking at her stomach. "What just happened?"

"I think...the seal possessed you," said Remus as though he was not very sure himself.

"You know, some how 'I told you so' doesn't quite say it," said Piper, feeling a little faint. "I told you not to go into the big creepy hole but did you listen? Nooo. No one ever listens to me and I end up possessed because of it."

She was ranting all the way to the castle and even while Leo healed her, and while the others explained to Dumbledore what they had found.

Dumbledore, for the first time in a while, looked nervous.

"If that seal is as you describe it, then in Voldemort's hand it is a powerful weapon. The seal, however, seems to be evil. After all, Piper, you are a good witch and it was able to possess you. But if the death eaters were there then it must indeed be of great importance to Voldemort. We need to be very careful."

"Do you think we should move the apparition lessons up and start this term, then?" asked Remus.

"That is an excellent idea, Remus. I will inform them at once. They will meet you every Tuesday in the available Muggle Studies classroom after dinner."

"Wait. I'm lost. Apparition? Isn't that like a ghost or something?" asked Paige.

"Apparating is how wizards get around," Tonks explained. "It's a lot like that thing you do with the lights only you have a chance of splinching yourself."

"Splinching?" asked Piper. "That sounds nice."

"It's not. It means you leave half of your body behind, or sometimes just certain body parts."

"Ew."

"And Harry's gonna learn?" asked Paige.

"Actually, Harry, Ron and Hermione. They all need to be able to protect themselves," said Remus.

"What about Draco?" asked Piper, suddenly. "His father knows now. He's already tried to hurt him once. How's he gonna protect himself?"

"I suppose young Mr. Malfoy may also attend the lessons. But perhaps so should you. Just to keep things under control," Dumbledore added with a small wink. "Since term starts tomorrow, the first lesson shall take place the day after. Piper, would you care to deliver the news?"

"No problem. Let's go Paige."

------

"Are you telling me the seal was activated!" he yelled, red eyes glinting with rage.

Avery cowered in front of his master, fearing the worst. "Y-yes, but it was an accident. McNair hit the witch with a cutting charm and she fell into the seal," he tried to explain quickly.

"Is this true, McNair?"

He nodded silently.

"Imbecile! Crucio!"

McNair knew what was coming and took the pain silently as he fell to the floor writhing in pain.

"This is a set back, I did not expect," Voldemort said glaring at the heap of robes on the floor that was McNair. "There is only one way the seal can be closed, and _that_ is with the tears of the person who caused it to open. Very unlikely, as the witch does not know what she has done!" he yelled frustrated, causing the remaining death eaters to inch backwards. "The seal...has it's own powers. It is pure evil, possessing anything that nears it. Perhaps I could use it to my advantage. I want guards at the seal around the clock. But do not get too close...you know what will happen."

------

They reached the dungeons in a few minutes but were having a little trouble finding the Slytherin common room.

"I told you we should have told Harry and the others first," Paige hissed in Piper's ear.

"And I told you that I thought the dungeons were closer to Dumbledore's office," Piper answered.

"They actually are about the same distance away," said a voice from behind.

They turned and saw Snape looking at them amusedly. "Lost?"

"Extremely. Can you point us in the direction of the Slytherin common room? Dumbledore said that's were Draco was," explained Piper.

"Follow me."

He began walking down the hall and they followed without question.

But there was a nagging question that had to be answered. At least, Paige thought so.

"So what's going on between you and Phoebe?" she suddenly blurted out.

"That would be between me and Phoebe," he said without turning around.

"Yes, but _we're_ family and we would like to know what's going on?" she pressed further.

"Then perhaps you should ask _her_ that."

"Look we're not trying to give you one of those 'if you do anything to hurt my sister' speeches," began Paige.

"We're not?" said Piper.

"Okay we are."

"Look, the point is that Phoebe has been through a _lot_. She doesn't need any more heartache," said Piper.

"I know. I've seen it," he said coolly.

"If you're a demon, give up now. Because if you hurt our sister...we _will_ vanquish you," Piper said seriously.

"Do you make it a habit of terrorizing every man your sister decides to see?" he asked finally turning around, face emotionless.

"Just the ones we think are evil," replied Paige.

"The password is Pure-blood," he said briskly before walking off.

Without even realizing it, they had reached a hallway that was a dead end. In front of them was the portrait of an old vile looking man. He had to be at least sixty, had a trimmed beard, black eyes and was dressing in very expensive, very old robes. The finishing touch was the serpent that he brandished as a pet.

He eyed them suspiciously before asking for the password and when they gave it, he didn't open the door for another few minutes.

"I thought he was never gonna let us in," said Paige as they finally emerged in the Slytherin common room.

"Piper, Paige? What are you doing here?" came Draco's voice. He was alone.

"I just needed to talk to you about something," Piper said walking over.

"How'd you get in?" he asked rather suspiciously.

"Snape told us the password. Listen. Starting on Tuesday, you're gonna be learning how to aspirate," Paige said and looked confused when Draco didn't respond.

"Paige, I'm pretty sure he already knows how to breathe. She means apparate. You, Harry, Ron and Hermione are going to be getting private lessons from Remus every Tuesday in the empty Muggle Studies classroom."

"Why do I have to learn with them?" he spat, coldly.

"It's either that, or you wait and learn with the rest of the students in your year..._next_ term," said Piper sternly. "I don't see why you hate them so much. Besides, I'll be there watching."

He seemed to calm. "Fine. I'll see you then, _Professor,_" he said with a smirk.

------

Piper and Paige told the trio about their lessons after and unlike Draco they were a lot more excited.

"I can't believe we get to learn a whole term earlier," said Hermione excitedly.

"But why does Malfoy have to come?" said Ron, thoroughly annoyed.

"He needs to be able to protect himself too. It's bad enough when you have a psycho trying to kill you, but it's worse when your own father is trying to help," said Paige reasoning with them.

"I guess your right," said Harry, giving up. He knew there was no point in complaining, especially since Dumbledore had already agreed.

------

Piper and Paige reached the door fully ready to go to sleep after their very trying day, when it was opened to reveal a livid Phoebe standing behind it.

"You threatened to _vanquish_ him!" she shrieked.

"Only a little...if he was evil," said Paige, hurriedly.

"Not helping," said Piper, shushing her sister. "We just wanted to make sure he wasn't a demon."

"Do you really think Dumbledore would let a demon teach?!"

"Well, he did let a werewolf," said Piper slowly.

"I can't believe you guys. You're my sisters. I'm supposed to be able to _trust_ you. But how can I do that if you don't trust me?"

"No offense, Pheebs, but you just don't have the best history with guys," said Paige carefully.

"I can't believe you would bring up Cole now," said Phoebe looking at her sister in disbelief.

"I didn't bring him up, you did."

"This is different. Severus isn't evil andhe's not a demon."

"Well, maybe one out of two's not bad," said Piper.

Phoebe turned to walk inside. For the first time in a long time, she was really mad at them.

"Be careful," Piper called to Phoebe's retreating back, as she entered the house and closed the door.

"That snake!" said Paige indignantly. "I can't believe he told her. Maybe he really is evil and he's trying to turn her against us," she gasped.

"Or maybe...we're just being really paranoid."

"It's not like we don't have good reason to be."

"I know. But for now, maybe we should just leave them alone. When we see him Avada someone, then we can tell Phoebe he's evil," reasoned Piper.

"Do we really have to wait?"

------

-Up in Phoebe's room-

I can't believe them! Why can't they just be happy for me?

They're just looking out for you and it wouldn't be the first time you were wrong about something like this.

The seed of doubt had been planted. She had to talk to him...now.

------

The fire had made the room stiflingly hot. He was getting ready to go to bed when he heard a knock on his office door. Wondering who would be coming to see him at this time of night, he slipped on his black bath robe over his boxers and walked over to the door, rolling up his sleeves as he went.

Standing in the hall looking anxious, scared and determined was Phoebe.

"What are you doing here? Is something wrong?" he asked ushering her inside.

"I know this is going to sound really stupid but I just need to get it out of my head and I'll feel better," she started.

She was sitting in the chair in front of his desk and he sat in front of her on the desk.

"What is it?" he asked, readjusting his bath robe.

A flash of black caught Phoebe's eye. "What is _that_?" she whispered, looking at his left arm.

He quickly pulled down the sleeves of his robe and looked at Phoebe wearily. "I can explain..."

"Never start a sentence like that when you're talking to me," she said warningly and got up slowly from the chair. "What. Is. It?" she asked again, very slowly.

"_It_ is the Dark Mark," he said in a low voice. He didn't know how much she knew about Voldemort and his followers.

Apparently, she knew enough.

"This can't be happening. Not again. You're one of them?!" she said slightly hysterical.

"No...well...yes, but let me explain," he began as he walked towards her.

She was inching towards the door. "Explain what?! That you're a Death Eater! That you're everything Dumbledore and the Order are fighting against! That you're everything _I _fight against!"

"I _am_ part of the Order!" he shouted back. "Dumbledore knows! He trusts me!"

"Should he?!" She was almost at the door.

"Phoebe, there are things about my past that I am not proud of, but I've changed!"

"Why should I believe you?" She had her hand on the knob and she looked close to tears. She didn't have the energy to scream anymore.

"Because Dumbledore does!" he yelled becoming more frustrated. "Do you honestly think he would let a Death Eater anywhere near Potter?! Stop being so paranoid!"

Suddenly, a memory flashed in her mind.

"Don't you think you're being a little paranoid?" asked Cole with a smile.

Phoebe was not smiling. "With my demon ex-husband from hell? No, Cole, I don't."

"No. I can't do this again," she was about to open the door when he came up from behind her and grabbed her arm.

"Not until you let me explain," he said dangerously.

Without warning, Phoebe levitated five feet in the air and kicked Snape in the head with all her might.

He flew backwards into his desk, almost knocking it over.

"Don't touch me," she growled in a low voice.

He looked up in time to see her leave the room and slam the door shut behind her.

He could feel a trickle of blood falling down the back of his head.

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Happy New Year!!! It is so not 2004 anymore. My new year's resolution is to finish my fics! lol Anyway, I think I said before that there would be a sequel. It's looking like I'll just extend this one instead of making a whole separate story. Either way, more chapters are on the way! Please, please, please review and tell me what you think so far. I love the input. Hope your year got off to a good start! -Piper1019-


	25. Breyer's Inn

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters.

A/N: Since we don't really know a lot about Apparating, I sort of going to take the liberty to invent. If you think I'm way off or if you have any ideas feel free to tell me. The only thing I wonder about is: do you need your wand to Apparate? I don't think you do, so that's how I'm going to portray it in this story. If anyone has any theories I would love to hear them.

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Last Time

"No. I can't do this again," she was about to open the door when he came up from behind her and grabbed her arm.

"Not until you let me explain," he said dangerously.

Without warning, Phoebe levitated five feet in the air and kicked Snape in the head with all her might.

He flew backwards into his desk, almost knocking it over.

"Don't touch me," she growled in a low voice.

He looked up in time to see her leave the room and slam the door shut behind her. He could feel a trickle of blood falling down the back of his head.

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Chapter 25

The subtle rays of moonlight shone dimly through the window at the end of the fifth floor corridor giving a ghostly illumination to the already paled person huddled up against it.

Sitting on the sill with her knees bent, arms wrapped around them, she sobbed quietly into her own chest.

The memories came flooding back like a tidal wave. Every lie that she had ever heard from him, all of the little signs that should have sent up a red flag were digging at her heart like claws without mercy.

And now...him.

He had done the same. He had lied to her. He had betrayed the one thing that she could never forgive...her trust.

Trust was the one thing that she did not give easily. But once she was willing to give it, she gave it all, along with her heart. The heart that he had now broken completely.

She had been so sure that he was different, that he was good, despite what everyone was telling her. Everyone said he was evil, yet she paid no mind. The situation was so uncannily familiar, it hit so close to home...how could it not hurt?

She felt, rather than heard, someone sit next to her on the window.

With every fiber of her being she prayed that it wasn't him. She didn't know what she would do if it was. Part of her was convinced that she would kill him, but the other part was sure she would burst into even more tears.

She felt a comforting hand rub her back. The feeling was so warm, so soft that she looked up.

Tears still flowing freely, her eyes connected with the soft blue eyes of the Headmaster, that at the moment were filled with concern and understanding.

Her heart was screaming at her to ask for answers but words failed her, so she put her head back down and continued to sob quietly.

"Severus is a good man," Dumbledore began quietly, barely above a whisper.

She flinched slightly when she heard his name. Even though it was barely a whisper it sounded like someone had yelled it through the hall and it now echoed bitterly in her head.

"We have all done things in our past that we would most like to forget and he is no exception. He is, however, a changed man. He is fighting for the same cause that you and your sisters have fought for so long."

"H-he lied," she choked out quietly. "He didn't have to lie."

"I am in no way condoning his handling of the situation. I agree it would have been better for him to have been straight forward with you, but we all make mistakes. We hide the truth to protect the ones we care so much for. We are blinded by our feelings. I think it is safe to assume he cares deeply for you. Something, I can assure you, he has not felt in many years."

She finally looked up and met his eyes. "Y-you...trust him?" It almost sounded like an accusation.

"With my life," he answered steadily.

"But he was-

"Yes, he _was._ Remember, we all have a dark side. Part of being 'good' is knowing what is wrong and having the will to resist it. But I dare say...one does not always succeed," he finished, looking at her knowingly. "Exactly how long _were_ you Queen of the Underworld for?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

She made a small sound that was somewhere between a cough and a chuckle and looked at Dumbledore in surprise. "About a week."

He looked at her seriously, eyes boring into hers yet, not in an intrusive manner. They were more curious. Then he looked away seemingly satisfied.

"Let him explain. You deserve to know the truth. Now, off to bed before you catch a cold. After all, a new term begins tomorrow. You'll want to be ready for class," he said, familiar twinkle in his eye.

Phoebe walked silently up to her room. She didn't have the energy to talk about what had happened so she decided to take Dumbledore's advice and she tried to get some sleep.

Unfortunately for her, her dreams wouldn't let her.

--- ---

Piper and Paige heard Phoebe come in late the night before and decided it would be better to leave her alone...for now.

They now had to worry about what they would teach to their class. Needless to say, they had been somewhat busy over the vacation.

When they entered the Great Hall, it was a buzz with post-holiday gossip. They immediately saw that Snape was not at the staff table and wondered what could have happened last night.

Knowing that they couldn't come up with a decent lesson in just a few minutes and knowing that they had to talk to Phoebe, they posted a letter on their classroom door saying that class was cancelled due to "family reasons" and headed back to their room.

--- ---

Phoebe wandered blindly downstairs and made herself a cup of coffee. Though not being an expert coffee-maker like Piper, she promptly spit it out as soon as she took a sip.

She wasn't sure whether she could blame her coffee-making skills entirely, the bitter taste in her mouth just wasn't going away.

She heard the door of the living room click shut and saw Piper and Paige come into the kitchen hesitantly.

"We come in peace," said Piper hands raised.

They sat around the table in an awkward silence until Phoebe spoke up. "Aren't you guys supposed to be in class right now?" Her voice was shaky and raspy.

"We cancelled it," said Paige looking at Phoebe carefully. "Look, I'm sor-

"Don't be," said Phoebe cutting her off. "You were right...again."

"We didn't want to be," said Paige softly.

"Didn't you?"

"Of course not," said Piper.

"But there's more to it," said Phoebe suddenly.

"What do you mean?" asked Paige.

With some difficulty, Phoebe began to tell them everything that had gone on the night before. From Snape to Dumbledore, they listened quietly until she had finished.

"So...Dumbledore knew?" asked Paige trying to understand.

"He trusts him. I guess we should too, but...it's just hard, you know. It brings back so many _Cole_ memories," Phoebe explained.

"That's understandable," said Piper. "But if Dumbledore trusts him, then maybe you should give him another chance to explain."

"What am I supposed to say? Sorry for kicking you in the head?"

"That would be a start," Paige shrugged, smiling.

--- ---

Most of the students shrugged off the note on the door of the DADA homework figuring that the sisters must be sick or just didn't feel like teaching that morning. Someone even suggested that they were hung over from the holidays.

Harry, always fearing the worst, immediately thought something was wrong.

"I'm sure they're fine," Hermione tried to convince him.

"Well, I'll feel a lot better if I see them for myself."

They began walking the now familiar route to the girls' home when they ran into someone they would rather avoid.

"Going somewhere?" he drawled.

It seemed like the odd sort of truce they had during the holidays would now be coming to the end.

Hermione, however, wasn't ready for that to happen. She was getting quite used to not fighting with Malfoy every second of everyday and figured if they kept being civil with him he just might return the gesture.

"Yes, actually. We're going to make sure the sisters are alright. Didn't you see the note on the classroom door?"

"No. Blaise told me class was cancelled. Is something wrong with them?" he asked voice unconcerned, but nothing could hide the small flicker of fear in his eyes.

"We don't know yet. That's what we're going to find out," said Harry, also noting the flash of concern on Draco's face. "Want to come?"

Ron looked at Harry in disbelief but Hermione smiled to show her approval.

Draco shot Harry a suspicious look. "When are you going to start trusting us, Malfoy?" Harry asked impatiently.

"When hell freezes over," he said in a would be cheery voice and started walking in the same direction that the Trio had been going in.

They got to the front door and knocked tentatively. Paige answered.

"We saw the note on the door and we just wanted to make sure that everything was okay," explained Harry.

Paige gave a quick glance over her shoulder. "Thanks for coming by but everything's fine. Don't worry. You guys should probably get ready for your next class. Oh and don't forget, your first Apparating lesson is tomorrow night after dinner. See you later," she gave them a small wave and shut the door.

As the door closed, Harry saw Phoebe walking into the living room. From what he could see she look very sad.

--- ---

The rest of the day went by without much incident. Their classes seemed to be more boring than usual, but it was the mounting anticipation of their first Apparating lesson that made everything else seem so mundane in comparison. Even Hermione was itching to get to the common room and start reading that book Harry had gotten her for Christmas.

When the time had finally come for their last class to be finished and dinner was done, they all rushed to the common room where Hermione practically read them half the book out loud. They actually found it quite interesting.

"It says here that Apparating works differently for each individual witch or wizard," Hermione commented.

"Then how are they going to teach us if each one of us will do it a different way?" asked Ron.

"Maybe there's a list of the different ways?" questioned Harry, looking back at Hermione.

She scanned the page, brow furrowed. "Some wizards choose to imagine themselves turning into the wind or air and that helps them visualize where they will end up. It is important to visualize your _whole_ self being transported. The less you are concentrating the greater chance you will have to splinch yourself," she said reading.

"Well that's comforting," said Harry.

"Hang on. Listen to this. Some wizards have actually concentrated so hard that a hidden talent presents itself. In fact, it is actually quite common for most witches and wizards to discover whether or not they are Animagi while they are first learning to Apparate. I guess the two must be closely related."

"Wicked! You mean one of us might find out we're an Animagus?" said Ron excitedly. "Harry, what do you think I'd turn into?"

"I don't know. What do you think I'd be?"

"No idea."

The two looked at Hermione. "Honestly don't you two know anything. People who are Animagi don't get to choose what animal they become. It is a reflection of their personalities. I think Harry would be a lion; brave and noble, but a bit stubborn at times. Ron, you would be a," she stopped to think for a moment, "a bull."

Ron looked outraged. "A bull! Is that the best you could come up with?"

"Well, with your temper what else do you think I would have chosen?" she said briskly.

"You know, she does have a point, mate," said Harry, stifling back a laugh.

"What do you think I would be?" asked Hermione.

A fire-breathing dragon came to Ron's mind first but he thought better of it. "Obviously you would be an owl," he said in a great mockery of her earlier tone. "I hear they have really big brains."

She couldn't help but laugh.

--- ---

They all expected the day to go by very slow. Every class dragging and seeming hours longer than what it really was.

However, the exact opposite was true. They would get in a class and after what felt like mere minutes they were getting up and packing to leave and go to the next class. It was as if some one had put the day on fast forward.

Before they knew it, it was dinner time. They ate quietly, too excited to talk. Once they were finished they walked out of the Great Hall and up to the empty Muggle Studies classroom closely followed by Draco.

There they were met by Remus and Piper, who were sitting and talking quietly in front of the desk.

As soon as Remus saw them walk in he had them all stand in front of the desk.

"Now, as you will all know, no one can Apparate or Disapparate on Hogwarts grounds. That is why the Headmaster has kindly prepared us a portkey that will take us to a small cottage called Breyer's Inn in a nearby town just outside of Hogsmeade. It is scheduled to take us to this same cottage every Tuesday at eight o'clock, so you should arrive here no later than five minutes of eight. Then we will return to Hogwarts by floo powder. " At this, Piper gave a small snort of disapproval.

He finished and they nodded in understanding. He opened the desk drawer and pulled out an old and battered looking quill.

"Everyone touching it. Good. In three, two, one...

The number one was barely out of his mouth when they all felt the familiar tug behind their navel.

In a blur of light they were taken to Breyer's Inn. They landed in the living room.

The fire was blazing and it was nice and warm inside. Remus set the quill carefully inside a pocket in his robe and set the robe on an old desk near the window.

"Tonight's lesson, being the first, will be in large part about visualizing. Since Apparating comes different to every witch and wizard you need to explore and see what makes you feel comfortable. Apparating is wandless magic and is therefore difficult to learn when first starting out, but I promise that once you master it, it will come as easily to you as breathing. Even though the technique may be different for each person, the same fundamental rules apply. Remember always to concentrate on your _entire _body, and remember to always visualize your destination. It is very helpful if you know the exact coordinates that you are trying to reach. People rarely make it to their intended location by guessing. I want you all to stand up. I know this may seem a little odd at first, but I want you each to pick a spot in the room and literally picture yourself disappearing and appearing in your intended spot. Close your eyes for a few minutes and just visualize."

Needless to say, everyone but Hermione felt extremely stupid just standing there with their eyes closed.

Draco decided to concentrate on what a handy skill Apparating would be if he ever got into a sticky situation. He also wanted to see the look on Hermione's face should he be the one to learn first. He was determined to beat her.

He closed his eyes but could still see the room clearly in his mind. He imagined that he was outside of his body looking at himself. Then he saw himself disappear and appear next to Piper who was sitting in an old arm chair a few feet away. He did this a few times in his mind going back and forth.

He was concentrating so hard, he didn't realize that Remus was calling his name. It was only when he felt a hand grasp his shoulder that he opened his eyes.

They had been clamped shut so tightly, it took them a while to refocus. Once they did, however, he was shocked to see where he was.

He was no longer standing next to Hermione and facing his two professors. He was, in fact, standing right next to Piper's chair and staring at Harry, Ron and Hermione's shocked faces.

It was priceless.

"Draco, I have to say that was extraordinary. I don't think I've ever seen anyone pick up Apparating so quickly. Well done," said Remus beaming.

Once Draco's own shock had worn off, he felt more and more satisfied.

"No one ever said it would be so simple," he drawled, running his hand through his hair.

This didn't quite have the effect he had thought. Far from looking annoyed at him, everyone took a collective gasp that all but emptied the oxygen from the room.

"What?" he said quite defensively.

"Draco, let me see your hand," said Remus, quietly.

"Why what's wrong with-

But his own question was answered when he looked down at his right hand. It was no longer white and smooth. It was the exact opposite. It was as black as the night and seemed hairless. His fingernails looked far from human. They were long, round and thin much like a cat's.

He looked at his other hand and it was fine, normal. His right hand however, felt leathery and rough.

"You have nothing to worry about, Draco," Remus began with the smallest trace of a smile on his face.

"Do you think this is funny? How can I not worry when my hand is bloody black!"

Piper got up from the chair and put a reassuring arm around the visibly shaken blonde teen's shoulders.

"He was going to change, wasn't he?" asked Hermione, in a small but awed voice.

Remus nodded.

"Change? What do you mean change? Into what?" he asked desperately looking around. He felt as though everyone knew a big secret and they were deliberately not telling him.

"Congratulations, Draco. It seems that you...are an Animagus."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Fin-

I know this is very short, but I wanted to get it up quickly. In the next chapter Phoebe will confront Snape again and Draco learns more about his gift. Before you think it unfair...know this: Harry, Hermione and Ron's gifts will make Draco's seem like child's play. Meanwhile, as the summer approaches it also brings with it a Summers. ;) So, can anyone guess what Draco's animagus will be??? What would yours be? To the reviewers: thank you so much for sticking with me. btw: pickles87...are you and medicdaddy married? Sorry if I'm way off base here but I had to ask.


	26. I'm A What!

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters.

Last Time

"He was going to change, wasn't he?" asked Hermione, in a small but awed voice.

Remus nodded.

"Change? What do you mean change? Into what?" he asked desperately looking around. He felt as though everyone knew a big secret and they were deliberately not telling him.

"Congratulations, Draco. It seems that you...are an Animagus."

Chapter 26

Hermione was beaming along with Piper and Remus. Ron looked extremely jealous and Harry just looked surprised.

Everything was silent for a few seconds. The fire was crackling merrily in the grate and the sun had set hours ago cloaking Breyer's Inn in a thick velvety darkness.

Draco's yell shattered the silence in a most unpleasant way.

"I'm a what!"

Far from looking pleased with himself or extremely smug as was expected from everyone, Draco looked almost panic stricken.

Piper tightened her arm around his shoulders. "What's wrong? Shouldn't you be glad?" she asked slightly confused.

He shrugged her arm off. "Glad? _Glad_! I almost turned into, into...who the hell knows what I almost turned into!" He looked at his hand wearily, but the black had started to fade and it had already begun to turn back to normal.

"Piper is right, Draco," Remus began in his calm voice. "Not many wizards have this gift. Most would kill for it. You should be extremely pleased with yourself."

Draco tried to calm down and took a second to think.

Then it hit him...it really hit him. He was an Animagus! He was going to be able to turn into an animal whenever he wanted! As soon as he learned to control it, that is.

Just then, an even better thought occurred to him. It was _him_. Not Potter or Weasley or even the brain Granger...it was him.

As soon as the look on his face had changed and he had calmed down, everyone realized that it had finally sunk in.

When he spoke again, he couldn't keep the slight hint of superiority out of his voice. "What was I going to turn into? Did you see?"

"No. But whatever it was, it was black," said Piper smiling.

"Well, that will be enough for tonight. We'll have to go back so that I can have a talk with Dumbledore," said Remus.

"Wait. You're going to tell him?" asked Draco, looking quite like a child whose balloon had just been popped.

"Of course. And once you are able to transform fully and we know what your animal is, you will have to register with the Ministry."

"Why? If my father sees the records, he'll know! Then what good will my being an Animagus be?"

It was obvious that Draco wanted this to be kept a secret.

"I'll talk with Dumbledore and we'll see what he says," said Remus, his tone final.

One by one, they flooed back to the empty Muggle Studies classroom.

When Remus and Piper began making their way to Dumbledore's office, they found that Draco was following at a safe distance behind.

"Not very stealthy is he?" said Piper, loud enough for Draco to hear.

He quickly caught up with them to explain. "I think I deserve the right to argue my own case," he said in a lawyer- like tone.

"And what case would that be?" asked Remus.

"Why I shouldn't have to register!" he fairly whined.

They chose not to answer him as they made their way into the office.

When Dumbledore saw them, he seemed surprised. He had only been expecting Piper and Remus. He looked at Remus curiously and he explained Draco's situation. When Remus finished, Dumbledore was also beaming.

"Well done, Draco. Well done indeed."

Draco felt rather uncomfortable at being praised so openly by the man he was taught to hate.

"Thank you, Headmaster," he said in a business-like tone that made the ancient wizard chuckle.

"Nonsense, Draco. Not even Cornelius calls me 'headmaster' and I must admit it makes me feel rather old. I much prefer 'professor' if you don't mind."

"Okay, Professor," he began uncomfortably, "I don't think I should have to register because if my father finds out then I won't be able to spy on him or he'll probably hunt down every one of whatever it is I turn into until he kills me." He had said all this very rushed and in one breath. He now looked at Dumbledore, silently begging him to understand.

He was quiet for a moment before he said, "I agree."

Remus and Piper looked surprised, but not more than Draco.

"You do?" he blurted out. "Why?" he couldn't hide the suspicion from his voice.

Dumbledore smiled kindly. "I believe you have some valid points. Your life could be in danger if the wrong people find out about this. You will not register...for now."

Draco left Dumbledore's office feeling happier than he had in a long time.

"So, what do you think you are?" asked Piper.

"I don't know," he shrugged, "You said it was black. It could've been anything."

"Okay. Well, what would you want it to be?"

"Something big...and dangerous. Like a dragon."

"What if you turn into, say, a rabbit?" she asked with a smirk.

He turned to look at her, a stony expression on his face. "I'd kill myself."

She burst out laughing and didn't stop until he threatened to curse her.

"Do you really think this is a good idea?" asked Remus, worry etched on his face.

Dumbledore's tone was serious. "Yes, Remus, I do. Like I said before, his life could be in danger if the wrong people found out about this, especially in the early stages. You must tell know one else. Make sure Harry and the others understand as well. Also, Draco must now have special lessons, to help him control this. The sooner he learns, the better. I will contact Minerva and see if she would be willing to give up an hour of her time every Tuesday, right after the Apparating lessons."

Remus nodded, and without another word, he left.

They each received a letter the next morning from Remus telling them to keep quiet about Draco. Draco also got a letter explaining his additional lessons, although he was none to pleased that it was McGonagall that would be teaching him.

"So Draco's gonna be able to turn into an animal whenever he wants?" Paige inquired.

"Looks like it," said Piper.

"And we can't tell anyone?" asked Phoebe.

"Yup."

"Wow. Now that would be a cool active power," said Phoebe with a far off look in her eye.

"So, when are you going to talk to Snape?" asked Paige carefully.

Phoebe's attention came snapping violently back to the present. "I don't know if I can face him yet."

"It's not like you did anything wrong," said Piper. "And he's got some explaining to do."

"Wait, so you guys actually want me to talk to him?"

"We just want you to be happy. And if Dumbledore trusts him then...I guess we should too," said Paige begrudgingly.

"Alright, I'll see if I can find him after class."

Her heart was pounding, her palms were sweating and she could feel the beginnings of a headache forming in her head.

What was she going to say to him? What was he going to say to her?

She stopped outside of his office door and took a moment to settle herself. Then she knocked.

"Come in," came the cold voice from the other side.

She opened the door slowly and walked in.

His eyes almost fell out of his head when he saw her.

"Phoebe," he said standing up quickly.

She half smiled and sat in the chair in front of his desk not knowing what to say.

There was an awkward moment of silence before she spoke. "Sorry about your head."

"Don't be. I deserved it," he said looking down.

He was ashamed and she could feel it. At least she would be able to sense if he was being truthful.

"Phoebe, I...apologize for not telling you the truth. I know I should have but I wasn't sure how you would react. Now I know," he said rubbing his head.

"Sorry again," she said quietly.

"You deserve to know the truth," he took a deep breath and continued, "When I was at school here, I was not the most popular person. Potter would curse me every opportunity that he got. And I would retaliate just the same. We hated each other. Lily, on the other hand...as much as I shouted at her and called her a mudblood, she would always come to my defense. I never appreciated it. The Darks Lord's powers were very appealing to a person like me and...I fell. I became a Death Eater. I did things I am not proud of. Then Lily died that night...she was the only person who had ever been truly kind to me, and she took that with her. I went to Dumbledore and he saw that I was sincere. He took me in, guided me to the side of the light. Now, I am a spy for the Order. If the Dark Lord ever finds out what I do...I will be as good as dead."

Phoebe listened carefully and sensed that everything he was saying was true. Now...she didn't know what to say.

"I'm not expecting you to forgive me right now. Think about it for as long as you need. You know where to find me."

Not wanting to say anything to ruin the moment, she nodded, got up silently and walked to the door. She opened it to leave but paused and turned around.

"Thank you," she whispered before walking out and closing the door.

He breathed a sigh of relief...knowing that he still had a chance.

By the fourth Apparating lesson, when a month had gone by, Harry, Hermione, Draco and even Ron could now Apparate.

They had started off simple at first, apparating only a few miles at a time. Once, Ron misread the coordinates and ended up in Timbuktu instead of Kalamazoo. They all had a good laugh afterwards. After they all had it down pat, the Apparating lessons finished.

Draco, however, still had not been able to transform fully into his Animagus and still needed the lessons with McGonagall.

It was now his fifth lesson and he had made little progress since he had started. Both him and McGonagall were getting very frustrated.

"Mr. Malfoy, you need to concentrate," she said in her usual stern tone.

"I'm trying," he said through gritted teeth.

"Then try harder. Remember, visualize the animal within."

He didn't even try to hide the snicker that came out of his mouth. McGonagall was not amused.

"Mr. Malfoy, if you would kindly get your mind out of the gutter and concentrate!"

"Alright, fine. But it's a little difficult to visualize an animal if you don't know what animal it is."

He closed his eyes for what felt like the thousandth time that night. He steadied his breathing and concentrated. He could almost feel McGonagall's stare piercing right through his eyelids.

He ignored the feeling and instead concentrated on an animal he wished he could turn into. A dragon would be quite cool, he thought. Big and powerful. If anyone gave him trouble...he could eat them. That would be nice.

He sighed contently.

McGonagall watched as he closed his eyes. She had never been so frustrated in her life. If possible, he was almost as infuriating as the Weasley twins.

She closed her eyes briefly and opened them again when she heard him sigh, wondering what he was thinking of.

Then it happened.

He started to change.

Slowly, as if invisible brushes were painting on him, he began to turn a pitch black. His hair slowly retreated back into his head and turned a dark brown. The crunching of bones could be heard as his legs shrunk slowly. His arms thinned until they were near bone. Giant leathery wings sprouted from the top of his arms and connected to his feet.

All the while, he never stopped shrinking.

McGonagall stared in awe as he finally finished the transformation. It was a few minutes until it was all over and she was thankful that he had finally stopped shrinking. She wasn't sure how small he would get. After all, there were all different sizes.

She walked over and gently picked him up.

"Well, done Mr. Malfoy," she said with a trace of a smile on her face.

He lifted his head up slowly and she knew that he understood.

"Why don't you try a quick spin around the room," she said.

She walked over to the desk and placed him on it.

Gingerly he unfolded his wings and tested them out while McGonagall made mental notes.

"About a twelve inch wingspan," she murmured under her breath. "And a white spot on his back."

He flew a few times around the room, once nearly colliding with a window , and landed back on the desk. He was jittery and she knew he was excited.

"Now, listen to me carefully. To turn back you need to concentrate on your human form, obviously. Start by thinking from the tip of your head all the way down to your toes. Warts and all."

He gave a disapproving squeak as if to say, "Malfoy's do not have warts."

It took a little while but within ten minutes he had turned back.

"I must say that was very well done. Once you master it, you will be able to transform in mere seconds. So...how do you feel?"

"Like I've just played quidditch for a week straight," he said stifling back a yawn.

"That's perfectly normal. With time that will also pass. Is it what you expected?"

"No. I was expecting a dragon. But I guess this will do. At least it's not a ferret," he said, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

He thought he heard her chuckled but when he looked her face was as stern as ever and she was handing him the floo powder pot. "After you Mr. Malfoy."

She smiled at his retreating back.

Two owls were sent that night. One from McGonagall to Dumbledore and one from Draco to Piper. They both had only one word written on them

Bat.

I know this is very short but I didn't want to make you guys wait any longer. So yeah. The secret's out. He's a BAT! I tried to pick something that wasn't stereotypical but at the same time, kind of fit. I hope you like it. The time will advance fairly quickly in the next few chapters bringing the end of the school year and the summer, which means (among other things) that they'll be able to do magic outside of school! Yay! Should be fun.

Now...this is important. Think of it as my gift to you for being such loyal reviewers. When you review leave your email, or make sure you're signed in on fanfic so that I can get your email and I'll send you a surprise! One that I hope you'll like. It's nothing huge but I think it's cute and it involves Pheebs and Sev. Thanks again. -Piper-


	27. The Hermendigo

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters.

Chapter 27

It was obvious. He had done it. He had been walking around for days with the goofiest smile on his face. It was only odd because it was weird not to see his trademark smirk and also because he was trying very hard not to brag or look too smug, Piper had warned him.

Finally after a few days of silence they, being Harry, Ron and Hermione, couldn't stand not knowing anymore so they approached Draco in the hallway after class making sure no one saw and proceeded to bombard him with questions.

"You did it, didn't you?"

"What was it?"

"Was is big?"

"Did it hurt?"

He whistled loudly to get their attention and they abruptly stopped talking.

"Bloody hell!" he said annoyed. "If this is how you treat your _friends_ I think I'd rather stay your enemy. Don't you people ever do anything normal, like ask questions one at a time?"

The trio looked a bit sheepish but Hermione couldn't contain herself. Her eyes were shining with anticipation and he couldn't ignore the look on her face.

"Fine!" he said exasperatedly. "But keep your mouths shut."

"We're not daft, Malfoy," said Harry calmly.

"Yes, I did it. No, it didn't hurt and it wasn't big."

"Malfoy, stop stalling and tell us already," snapped Hermione.

"Imabat," he mumbled.

"What?" they said in unison.

""I'm...a...bat," he hissed, not wanting anyone to overhear.

"Really! That's incredible. I thought it might be something like that," Hermione began to ramble.

"Ignore her. She does that a lot," said Ron clamping a hand over Hermione's mouth effectively shutting her up, until she bit him that is.

He pulled his hand away cursing softly.

"Serves you right," she huffed.

"Anyway, congrats mate," said Harry looking at his watch. "Come on Ron, we're gonna be late for Divination. See you guys later." They both sped off towards the North Tower.

"What's your problem?" asked Draco.

"What do you mean?"

"When Potter mentioned Divination you looked like your cat for a second," he smirked.

"Do you have to notice everything?" she asked feeling annoyed herself.

"Yes," he answered pompously.

She decided to answer, realizing that it was the perfect opportunity to gain some of his trust. She told him exactly what she thought of Trelawney and her _predictions_ and how she had walked out of the class and dropped it.

"As far as I'm concerned she can take her crystal ball and stick it you know where."

He snorted.

"It's not funny! Do you know how many times she's predicted Harry's death? That old bat's a fraud."

"I resent that bat comment," he said.

They looked around surprised to find themselves outside. They had been walking as they were talking not really paying attention to where they were going.

He looked around, making sure no one saw them and made his way towards the big oak tree.

"I never thought I'd live to see the day when perfect Granger skipped a class," he drawled, stretching out under the tree.

"As if I ever would. This is my study period," she said sitting next to him.

He stiffened beside her.

Would he ever get over the whole pure-blood,muggle-born thing, she thought.

"Looks like you won't get much studying done today," he said, tone odd.

"Why not," she asked halfway through pulling out her book.

He grabbed her face with one hand and turned it towards the forest, other hand already drawing his wand. Her hand immediately flew to her wand when she saw what was there.

It was big, hairy and obviously man-eating. It let out a roar and bounded after them on all fours.

Screaming, the two teens ran for their lives.

It chased them once around the lake before they ran towards Hagrid's hut. They pounded on the door and all but knocked it down but no one answered, and when they tried to get in they realized it was locked. Not even _alohamora_ would open it.

They turned around and it was there, fangs bared.

He heard Hermione's unmistakable whisper. "Werewolf?" she asked puzzled.

Draco, however, was not in the whispering mood. "In the middle of the day!"

His yell agitated the beast and it sprung forward and sunk its huge teeth into Hermione's wand hand.

She let out a blood curdling yell that surely could have woken the dead as the blood began to pour freely from her hand.

Draco did the only thing he could think of...he transformed and went for help.

Right after biting her, the beast had fled back into the forest. Hermione was now on her knees in front of Hagrid's hut cradling her bleeding hand. She had not seen Draco transform.

"He left me," she whispered, still crying. "Damn him."

She was staring to feel dizzy. It was hard to focus and her body felt heavy. In a matter of seconds she had fainted.

Draco flew non-stop until he found the sister's window. He screeched and rapped at the window with his tiny claws until Paige appeared and let him in.

He transformed back. "Granger...animal...bite...hurry!" he panted.

They orbed outside and ran towards Hagrid's hut. They found her looking pale from loss of blood and unconscious. Draco grabbed her wand and they orbed to the hospital wing.

"I'll stay here with her, you go and find the others," said Paige.

He hurried out of the room and headed up to the Divination classroom. Out of breath again by the time he reached the North Tower, he simply had to open the door and give the two half-asleep boys a significant look and they were up and out the door before Trelawney even noticed they were gone.

"What happened?" Harry asked as they rushed down the spiral staircase.

"It's Granger. We were attacked and she was bitten?"

"By what?" asked Ron, concern coating his tone.

"How the hell should I know. It came out of the forest. She apparently thought it looked like a werewolf, but in broad daylight?"

"Where is she now," asked Harry.

"Hospital with Paige."

When they got there, Hermione was not looking any better. In fact, she looked worse. She was even more pale and appeared to be sweating heavily. Blood now seeped through the bandage that was covering her mangled hand.

Madame Pomfrey was bustling about the bed of the still unconscious girl when she noticed the three boys standing there.

"Is she okay?" asked Harry.

"Not yet. I've given her a potion for the blood loss and another to help re-grow the skin that was lost. We'll just have to wait. Professor Matthews asks that you meet her in her office right away," she answered hurriedly and returned to Hermione's bedside.

They headed out and made their way to the sisters' portrait. Once they reached the door it was already open and they rushed inside to find them in the living room.

Harry shook his head briefly before sitting down. Ron gave him a questioning look but he just shook his head again.

They sat across from the sisters and without any questions being asked, Draco began to explain what had happened. Once he was finished, he couldn't help but notice that they looked very worried.

"Paige, get the book," said Piper.

"Wait you don't think..." began Phoebe.

"It has to be."

"But in broad day light?"

"Someone could have done a spell to change its habits."

"Is that even possible?"

"I guess we'll find out."

The boys looked on interestedly. When Paige got back with the book, Piper flipped through the pages impatiently then stopped and turned the book to face Draco.

"Is this what you saw?" she asked.

Draco, seeing the beast, ripped the book from Piper's hands.

"Yeah, that's it. A _wendigo_? What the hell is that?" he asked looking up. He noticed each of them had a small smile on their face. "This isn't funny," he said incredulously.

Ron nodded in agreement, while Harry just looked at the book, eyes shining hungrily.

"Of course we don't think it's funny," said Phoebe quickly.

"Yeah, we're just proud of you, that's all," added Paige.

"Why?" he asked very confused.

"Remember the first time you tried to look at the book and you couldn't touch it?" Piper explained.

"Yes, but what does that have to do with anything? I'm touching it now."

"Exactly," Piper said.

Before Draco could respond, the Book suddenly soared out of his hands and landed with a loud thud on the floor.

"Bloody hell!" Ron yelled as the book narrowly missed his head.

"What happened?" asked Piper.

"Maybe the Book changed its mind," Paige offered.

"No. The book didn't change its mind," said Phoebe, all traces of a smile gone. "Evil tried to touch it."

"What? Who? When?" Piper asked frantically.

Phoebe said nothing but slowly turned to look at Harry.

He looked at them one by one with an extremely annoyed look on his face.

"Harry?" Piper asked uncertainly.

He looked her dead in the eyes and she saw that they were empty. After what seemed like an age, he winkedand his body went limp.

"What the hell just happened?" she asked rushing over to Harry, who was already starting to wake up.

The first words out of his mouth were, "Get Dumbledore."

Paige immediately went to the fireplace and flooed the Headmaster.

"You okay, Harry?" asked Ron, and Harry nodded slowly.

Draco, on the other hand was very confused. "Wait...Potter, you're evil!"

"No," he said softly, but firmly.

"Then why couldn't you touch the book?" Draco challenged.

"It was Voldemort. He was possessing me."

Draco visibly paled. "You mean he saw me here...with you! Merlin, I'm a dead man!"

"Draco, calm down," said Piper. "We won't let anything happen to you. You know that."

Dumbledore had just arrived with Snape at that time. "She is quite right, Mr. Malfoy. You are safe here."

He held back a scoff and instead sent a questioning look at Snape, who simply shook his head.

"Harry, tell us what happened?"

"It was Voldemort, he was possessing me. I tried to fight him, but he was too strong," he said hanging his head.

"Harry, listen to me," Dumbledore began firmly, "You have nothing to be ashamed of. If you tried, that is all that matters."

"Yeah, I mean he even fooled my empath powers," said Phoebe.

Dumbledore nodded. "Now, do you know when it started?"

"I think it was right after we came into the house, so he didn't hear the password. I could feel him trying to get in and I tried to clear my head but it was too late. When he tried to take the book and it didn't work he got mad. That's when Phoebe noticed. I think when he got mad he wasn't concentrating as hard. He lost focus and that's when I pushed him out."

Snape had a look of disbelief plastered on his face, but Dumbledore looked very pleased.

"Well done, Harry. You found his weakness and used it to your advantage. You should be proud."

"But why didn't my scar hurt?" Harry asked, finally voicing what had been bothering him. "The last time he possessed me I thought my head was going to explode."

"Perhaps he found a more useful way to do it," said Snape finally speaking up. "If you let out a yell every time he possessed you, it would be quite obvious, wouldn't it?"

"Um, I hate to interrupt," said Piper suddenly. "But we have another serious problem on our hands. Hermione was bitten by a wendigo, which believe me is not fun. The wendigo is only supposed to come out on the day before, of and after the full moon which means that someone very powerful was somehow able to change its habits. If we don't find it and vanquish it soon, Hermione will become one."

A panicked silence filled the room until Paige spoke up. "Does anyone else find it a little weird that minutes after Hermione gets bitten, Voldemort decides to make a guest appearance?"

"It could be a coincidence," said Phoebe.

"Or it could be him checking up on his handy work. Think about it. Who else would be powerful enough to make a wendigo attack during the day, when it's supposed to be human by the way, and so far away from the full moon."

"And what exactly would he have to gain from turning Miss Granger?" asked Snape.

"Maybe nothing," said Phoebe. "Maybe he's just trying to distract us."

"The seal," said Paige suddenly. "He's trying to make us forget about the seal."

"I think that we need to have an emergency Order meeting," suggested Dumbledore. "I will contact some of the others and if it's alright with the sisters we will meet here on Saturday."

They nodded their consent.

"We can't forget about Hermione," said Harry finally starting to feel less drained.

"We won't," Piper assured. "We'll do atracking spell, find it and vanquish it. It'll be fine. I turned into one and I ended up alright."

All the wizards in the room just stared.

"Okay," said Phoebe clapping her hands to snap everyone out of it. "I think we should all go check on Hermione."

Her and Snape were the first to leave followed by Piper, Paige and Dumbledore, with Draco, Harry and Ron brining up the rear.

"Aren't you afraid someone will see you with us?" Ron asked, unable to keep the slightly harsh tone out of his voice.

"What does it matter? As far as the Dark Lord knows, you're my new best friends so I'm screwed already. Do you have any idea what they'd do to me if they caught me?" he suppressed a shiver.

"Nothing half as bad as they'd do to me," said Harry trying to cheer him up.

"Good point," he said smirking, and walked ahead.

"He's impossible," whispered Harry to Ron.

They were almost at the door of the hospital when they hear the unmistakable scream of the nurse.

No one wanted to believe the scene that lay before them. Madame Pomfrey was running towards the door with the wendigo, formerly known as Hermione, running after her full speed.

Before a wand could be drawn, Piper had froze the "Hermendigo."

"Please tell me that's not Hermione," Ron said, voice high and squeaky.

"She shouldn't have changed this quick. It took me a day or two and it's only been what? Half and hour?" Piper mused.

They put the Hermendigo in a full body bind and chained her to the bed, making sure she was secure.

The nurse had only agreed to watch her after taking some calming potion.

It was decided that the sisters and Snape would go into the forest after the wendigo right away. They took a couple of hairs from the Hermendigo for the tracking spell and vanquishing potion and set to work right away.

Within an hour the potion had been finished and they had located the wendigo inside the forest.

Standing at the edge of the forest, bright purple potion in one hand and wand in the other, it was an understatement to say that Snape felt pretty stupid. Phoebe, on the other hand,felt just asawkward. Being the only one without a real offensive power, Snape had urged her to bringher wand. He had been able to teach her a few simple spells in a matter of minutes and she had to admit she like the ability to be able to have more than one power, so to speak.

"Before we go in I think we should have a plan," said Piper. "Okay, if anything attacks I'll freeze it and we run. If it's something we can't handle, Paige will orb us out. If it's the wendigo, fire at will. Got it?"

They nodded.

One by one they entered the forest.

Here's another one! Hope those of you that got it liked the small surprise. I know there was a lot of he-said, she-said in this chapter but I hope you liked how the plot is going. Please review and let me know. for anyone who doesn't know what a wendigo looks like and would like to know you can copy and paste this link: http:www.tv-scripte.de/charmed/scripts/1-12/21.jpg . If that doesn't work and you still really want to know what it looks like, go to google, click on images and type in "wendigo, charmed." That should work. Thanks for reading and please review.


	28. So You Tried To Eat Me!

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters.

oo**o**oo

Chapter 28

The three boys sat next to the bed of the now subdued Hermendigo. It had taken three fairly strong calming potions to get it to fall asleep. Now it was resting peacefully.

"I still can't believe that's actually her," said Ron, flinching slightly as a low growl escaped her lips. "She's not waking up is she?"

"Maybe she's just snoring," Harry suggested, not wanting Ron to panic.

"And maybe the Dark Lord just needs therapy," Draco replied, sarcastically.

At the sound of his voice, the Hermendigo's eyes snapped open revealing glistening yellow orbs. She let out a loud growl and struggled against the chains that bound her apparently trying to get at Draco.

It was his yell of surprise and the sound of his chair clattering to the floor that alerted the nurse.

She quickly rushed in, stunned the beast and administered another calming potion.

"What was that all about?" asked Harry looking at Draco.

"How the hell should I know," he said looking offended.

"You didn't do anything to her did you?" Ron spat, accusingly.

"Oh you mean like save her life. Let's say we ask her once she's had a good shave. Until then, I'm going for a walk."

Without another word, he stormed out of the room.

"You don't think he did anything to her do you?" Ron asked.

"I don't know. I mean, how many times has Hermione been mad at us and we didn't even know it," Harry reasoned. He really wanted to give Draco the benefit of the doubt, but he was Draco after all.

"I guess," Ron said looking out the window.

"I hope they're okay," said Harry. Now one knew better what dangers lay in the forest and that's what worried him.

oo**o**oo

It seemed to get darker with every step they took.

They had charmed Snape's wand to point in the direction of the wendigo and it kept pointing deeper and deeper into the forest.

Phoebe was continually gasping his arm tighter and tighter at the smallest sign of movement. Apart from the growing loss of feeling in his arm, Snape wasn't complaining.

"What's that?" Paige said suddenly making everyone jump.

"What's what?" said Piper looking in the direction Paige was pointing.

Slowly a unicorn emerged from the bushes ahead.

"Aw. We haven't seen one of these in a long time," said Phoebe cooing over the animal.

"You've seen one before?" Snape asked surprised.

"Yeah, before Wyatt was born. The elders sent it as a gift," Piper explained.

"Someone gave you a unicorn as a gift?" he asked disbelievingly.

"Not to keep. It's a long story," said Paige.

Snape, however, wasn't listening anymore. His wand had trembled in his hand and before he could react the wendigo had torn through the bushes and sank its teeth into the side of the unicorn.

He barely had time to push Phoebe aside before it reached them. He hurled a stunning spell at it and Piper froze it once it was down.

"Quick, throw the potion," said Paige.

"Wait. I don't think it will work," Snape interrupted.

"Why not?" asked Piper.

"The unicorn's blood will protect it. Unicorn's blood will keep you alive even if you are an inch from death, but you will be cursed with a half life," he explained.

"That would explain why it's not human during the day like it should be," said Phoebe.

"Well we have to try," said Piper. "We throw it on three. One, two, three!"

As soon as the potions has hit the wendigo it had unfrozen and begun to burn alive. Though, instead of disappearing like demons usually did when they were vanquished, it started to transform.

The hair thinned, the limbs grew smaller until finally a man was left.

Snape rushed over and put his cloak over the naked man.

Paige gasped. "Oh my god. Isn't that..."

"Paul. Voldemort must have finally gotten to him," said Phoebe burying her face in Snape's chest.

Piper realized that Paul was still breathing and rushed over to his side. He was gasping for breath but trying to talk at the same time.

"Harry...Hellmouth," he whispered before going still.

Piper called for Leo but it was too late. Together, they all orbed out of the forest figuring it would be safer than walking.

"I don't understand," Snape whispered to Phoebe once they were out of the forest. "Why couldn't Leo heal him?"

"Leo can't heal the dead," she said in a voice so solemn that he didn't dare press the matter.

Once they were back in the castle, they headed straight for the hospital wing to check on Hermione. When they got there, they found Harry and Ron blushing furiously and facing the wall while the curtains were drawn around Hermione's bed.

"Oh, we probably should have mentioned the whole naked thing," said Phoebe.

"We figured out what was happening before it got too far and we closed the curtains," said Harry sheepishly with Ron still blushing next to him.

Hearing everyone in the room, Hermione decided to pull the curtain back. She still looked a little pale, but her hand was completely healed. She gave one look around the room and gave a small sigh of disappointment that Phoebe felt and couldn't ignore.

"Do you guys mind if a have a few minutes alone with Hermione?" asked Phoebe much to Hermione's surprise.

No one asked why and they all left the room silently.

"What's wrong?" Phoebe asked sitting next to Hermione on the bed.

"I feel a little dizzy but other than that I'm okay."

Phoebe smiled. "That's not what I meant."

Hermione just looked at her, confused.

"Um, okay, let me explain. I'm an empath, and when anyone around me is feeling a particularly strong emotion I feel it too. And you are very, very sad right now."

Hermione looked at her lap and when she looked back at Phoebe, she looked close to tears. But Phoebe knew they were not tears of sadness, but of frustration, anger and confusion.

"I knew he hated me but I didn't think he would leave me to die!" she said suddenly.

"Who?"

"Draco!"

"Oh honey, is that what you think? You need to talk to him."

"No. I'm not talking to that good for nothing twat!" she snapped looking down.

"Well, it looks like you don't have much of a choice."

"And why is that?" she asked looking up. But her question was answered when she saw him stepping into the room.

"Get out," she fairly growled.

"Is that the thanks I get for saving you?" he asked eyebrow arched.

"Saving me? You left me!" she yelled.

"I transformed and went to get help!" he yelled back.

"You did?" she asked suspiciously, starting to calm down.

"Yes, I did. Wait," he said realization dawning, "is that why you tried to attack me?" he said, tone furious.

"I was angry," she shrugged.

"So you tried to eat me!"

"It's not like you would have died. You would have just turned into a wendigo too," she said matter-of-factly.

"Like that's much better!" he yelled.

Phoebe was so busy watching the two argue, that she almost didn't step in to mediate.

"Okay, okay. Everyone just calm down. Hermione, thank him."

Hermione glared at the older witch while Draco smirked triumphantly.

"Thank you for saving my life," she mumbled.

"And," Phoebe supplied.

"And I'm sorry I tried to eat you."

He was smirking, but it quickly left his face when Phoebe looked at him expectantly.

"Apology accepted and your welcome," he drawled.

Satisfied, Phoebe was about to speak, but was cut off when Draco continued.

"And...I don't hate you..._that_ much anymore." he walked out of the room leaving u Hermione speechless, and Phoebe proud.

"I'm gonna leave you alone now. Give you some time to think."

Phoebe left the room with Hermione's wave of confusion still washing over her.

"What was that all about?" a voice asked making Phoebe jump.

"Don't sneak up on me like that. I could have seriously hurt you."

"I doubt that."

"Tell it to the back of your head."

"Fair enough."

"It was Hermione. She was mad at Draco because she thought he left her to die, so she tried to eat him."

Snape let out a snort.

"It's not funny. Those two have a lot of issues to work through. They're both confused, especially Draco. It's like he having a hard time believing he's doing the right thing."

"He has Lucius to thank for that. Just last year, Draco wouldn't be caught dead talking to Potter or Weasley or especially Miss Granger unless he was insulting them. It's all the Dark Lord's doing, I'm afraid."

"Why do you call him that?"

"Old habits die hard."

"Try."

They had reached the front door and were surprised to find it open. They were even more surprised to find the 'Manor' full of people.

"I guess Dumbledore decided to move the meeting up," said Phoebe as they walked over to Harry and Ron who were standing and talking to a man and woman who, judging by their hair, had to be Ron's parents.

"Arthur, Molly," Snape said nodding his head.

"Hi. I'm Phoebe. Nice to meet you."

"You too dear," said Molly a little dismissively and turned to look at Harry and Ron sternly.

"Mum, please," Ron pleaded.

"I don't care what Dumbledore says, you're too young. You too Harry."

"With all due respect Molly," Snape cut in, "The D-... Voldemort doesn't care how old Potter is, he's going to try and kill him regardless and I think the more information Potter has, the better. As for your son, on the other hand, that is your decision, but bare in mind that Mr. Potter here will tell him everything anyway."

They were all speechless. No one could believe what had just come out of Snape's mouth. Not only had he said Voldemort's name, but he had also just taken Harry's side.

It was only then that Molly noticed how close Phoebe and Snape were standing. Phoebe felt Molly's wave of disbelief and sent her a wink.

Dumbledore finished talking with Remus and turned to face everyone in the room.

"Due to the events that took place this afternoon, I have called you all here. No doubt you all know by now that Paul Daniels is dead. He was captured and used by Voldemort to turn Miss Granger into a wendigo in an attempt to distract us from his larger plans. While we do not know exactly what he is planning, we do know that it involves a magical seal that is located at the bottom of a ruined Muggle town that was known as Sunnydale. Paul was also able to provide us with another clue before he died. He linked Harry's name with a word we had not heard before: _hellmouth_."

"Whatever it is it doesn't sound good," Tonks interrupted.

"I agree," Kingsley said speaking up. "I think we should monitor that seal from a safe distance, since it seems to possess people."

"But there'll probably be Death Eaters guarding it," said Paige.

"Which is the reason why we should keep our distance," said Piper.

"You all bring up good points," said Dumbledore. "Until we have more information we will monitor the Death Eaters activities around the seal. I urge you all to be safe and any sign of strange activity should be reported to another Order member immediately."

The finality of his tone took Harry by surprise. "That's it?"

"Do you have something to add?" Dumbledore asked in an encouraging tone."

Everyone looked at him and he blushed but held his ground. "There has to be something we can do. We need more information. Phoebe can't you go to the seal and try to get a premonition off of it?"

"I don't see why not," she said.

"But it would possess you like it did Piper," said Tonks.

"Only for a few minutes though, right?" Phoebe asked.

"Or until someone smacks you," added Paige.

"We could orb there, freeze the guards, I get the premonition then we leave and wait for the seal's magic to wear off here. I would be safer here anyway."

Harry silently thanked Phoebe. Somehow he knew she got the message. He knew he was asking a lot of her but he couldn't just sit back and wait for Voldemort to hatch his plan.

Dumbledore looked like he was thinking it over and Snape was glaring daggers at Harry, which Phoebe saw.

"It is up to you, Phoebe," Dumbledore finally said.

"I'll do it. No problem."

"I'm coming with you," Snape said catching a few people by surprise.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," she said smiling, and she got on her toes and kissed his cheek which effectively caught everyone else in the room by surprise.

Dumbledore, however, stood there with his blue eyes shining brighter than they had in a long time.

oo**o**oo

DONE! This chapter, not the story obviously. I know that took FOREVER and I apologize profusely. I had this chapter written up and it was like ten pages long and I lost it! How very responsible of me. Anyway, IF I still have any readers left I please ask them to review and let me know that I still have them. Piper1019


	29. Charmed Again

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters.  
ooooo  
Chapter 29

The end of May was approaching and the smell of summer was already in the air. Classes were taking place normally and other than an attack by a chameleon demon disguised as a desk earlier in the month, everything was going smoothly.

This is what had everyone worried. There had not been any signs of any suspicious behavior for a few months. Which could mean only one thing...Voldemort must be regrouping. This, in turn meant, he would be coming back stronger than before.

They had finally decided the date when Phoebe would go to the seal. By keeping close tabs on the Death Eaters that were guarding it, they were able to find a five minute window which happened only once every two weeks when the Death Eaters were switching posts. They thought this would be safer than orbing in amongst the enemy.

Piper and Leo waited in the entrance hall for Phoebe and Snape. 

"It's about time," said Piper as she saw the couple coming down the stairs.

"We still have a few minutes," quipped Phoebe looking at her watch.

Piper couldn't help notice that Phoebe had an iron-clad grip on Snape's hand.

"Pheebs, everything's gonna be fine you know?"

"Yeah, yeah...I know."

"It's time," Snape said now looking at his watch.

They got there as the sun was setting.

Quickly and quietly they made their way down the rubble and towards the seal.

They were at least ten feet away when it hit Phoebe like a ton of bricks. She gasped and went rigid and was rooted to the spot.

"What's happening?" Snape said, worry etched in every line of his face.

He'd seen Phoebe have a premonition before when the chameleon demon attacked but this was nothing like it.

"It's okay, Severus," said Leo calmly. "The seal's magic must be pretty powerful. That's why she's having such a strong premonition."

CRACK!

Someone had just apparated above them.

Before waiting for Phoebe's vision to be done, Leo grabbed her, Piper and Snape and they orbed out undetected.

Back at the castle, Phoebe collapsed on the ground gasping for air as the tears welled up in her eyes threatening to drown them all.

"What did you see?" Piper asked. She was a little scared. She'd seen Phoebe react to premonitions strongly before, but never anything like this.

"It...it was horrible. The seal, it was open and it was like hell was pouring out on the earth. There were these demons...hundreds of them fighting girls."

"Girls?" Snape repeated confused.

She nodded. "They couldn't have been much older than Hermione. They were fighting. They had weapons...axes, swords, bows and arrows. They were...at war. I saw them die. One by one. But there was one girl...she looked older than the rest and she had this big, red, axe thing...she was killing the demons. That's all I saw."

There was a stunned silence. Numbly they walked to Dumbledore's office to tell him what they had seen. When they got there, Harry was already there.

Phoebe repeated what she had seen. Dumbledore looked lost in thought and Harry was looking grave.

"So Voldemort's going to open the seal again and start another war?" Harry asked, not being able to stand the silence anymore.

"There's no way to know for sure," said Dumbledore.

"It sounds like a master plan to me," said Piper.

"But you know what's weird," said Harry, "those girls in Phoebe's vision. Sounds to me like they knew what they were getting themselves into if they had all those weapons."

"I agree, Harry. But we, however, do not know what we are getting ourselves into, unfortunately," said Dumbledore.

"Maybe we could try looking for that girl, the one who stood out," suggested Leo. 

"We don't even know if she's still alive," said Piper.

"She's alive," said Phoebe suddenly. "I know she is."

"But still, we can't scry for her because she's not a witch," said Piper.

"The Lost and Found spell?" asked Phoebe.

"I remember how well that worked last time," recalled Piper.

"So I'll tweak it a little."

"Tweak away. I just better not get those five pounds back that I lost."  
ooooo  
With only one week left of school, Phoebe had still not managed to "tweak" the Lost and Found spell enough to convince Piper it would work right this time. So instead they concentrated on how and when they were going to tell Harry their plan for the summer...their plan being that he should stay with them instead of at the Dursley's.

"Are you serious? I can really stay with you? Dumbledore said it was okay?"

"Yes, yes and yes again," said Paige.

"We just have to stop by your aunt and uncle's house to get some of your stuff and then we can go," said Phoebe.

"Brilliant! I've never been to America."

"It's not much different than here except we drive on the wrong side of the road," said Paige.

"There is one more thing," said Piper. "How do you feel about having to share a room?"

"Considering I've been sharing a room with four other blokes for a few years now, I guess I don't care," he said wondering what the catch was. "Why? Will I share a room with Chris?"

"Um...not quite," said Phoebe evasively.

"Well?"

"You'll be sharing a room with...Draco," said Piper and she braved for an explosion.

Harry's shoulders slumped slightly. "Oh. Well...I guess that makes sense. He hasn't got anywhere else to go has he?"

Piper looked at Harry proudly. It was really something how they had all put their differences aside and really let Draco in, even though he was sometimes still quite abrasive with them.

"Why don't you go tell Draco the news," Piper told him.

"Wouldn't he rather hear it from you?"

"Probably, but I think he's spoiled enough, don't you?" she smirked.

Harry spotted Draco exiting the library by himself. Word had gotten around about Draco's new found friendship with the Trio and life on the Slytherin side wasn't too good for him. The only person that still talked to him was Blaise. It was no wonder he had a hard time believing he was doing the right thing.

Harry caught up to him with a few quick steps.

"Oh, it's you," the blond said sullenly. "What's up?"

"I've got some bad news."

Draco's attention perked up at once. "Get on with it."

"You have to share a room with me for the whole summer."

"That is bad news...wait...what are you on about, Potter?"

"The good news is that room is in the Manor."

"You mean we have to stay here the whole bloody summer?" Draco snapped, totally missing the point.

Harry gave him a look.

"Wait...you mean the real one?"

Harry nodded.

"In America?"

"No, Malfoy, in Africa. Yes, in America."

"This is..."

For a long moment, Harry thought he was going to say 'horrible.'

"...great."

"Is that you being sarcastic because I really can't tell anymore?" Harry asked seriously.

"No."

"Oh, okay. Where were you headed?"

"I was actually going to look for Granger. She has my Potions book."

"Why? She has one of her own."

"Well, I paid ten galleons more for it because it has extra appendages in the back or something. I guess she wanted to memorize them all," he shrugged.

Harry chuckled. "Think we'll have to fight any demons over the summer?"

"Probably. Between you and the sisters...you'll probably both get attacked at least twice a day. We'll be lucky if we last a week."

Smirking slightly, they both walked off.  
ooooo  
"This is so exciting! I can't believe you get to go with them. Wait, aren't you afraid you'll get attacked? And what if your father finds out Draco? What if you get kidnapped or worse...killed?" Hermione ended dramatically.

They were sitting outside in a far corner of the grounds away from everyone that was celebrating the end of exams. They were all much more comfortable when they weren't in the direct line of insults and threats, all of them coming from the Slytherins of course. The other houses had actually come to accept and somewhat admire the new quartet.

"Oh come off it, Hermione. They'll be with the sisters and we all know that they can take care of themselves."

"Of course they can...but can you?"

The snarling voice came from behind them.

They whirled around and saw a tall and menacing looking man wearing a long, black trench coat. His hair was long, also black and straggly with knots everywhere.

Before any of them could react he had disappeared in the blink of an eye and reappeared behind Hermione, grabbing her, his huge arm around her neck.

"Move and I'll snap her neck in two," he hissed.

They stood rooted to the spot.

Tears of pain began to well up in Hermione's eyes and it was obvious that she was now struggling to breathe.

Slowly they each reached for their wands hoping, praying that he would not see.

Without warning the man raised his free arm as a blue ball of energy came shooting out of it. Draco, Harry and Ron ducked but they needn't have because the ball clearly wasn't aimed at them. They turned around just in time to see the ball hit Theodore Nott squarely in the chest.  
By the time they turned back around...she was gone.

Ron looked as though it was taking him every ounce of strength not to cry while Harry and Draco looked ready to kill.

"Leo! LEO!" Harry yelled at the top of his lungs not caring who heard.

Leo had barely materialized when Harry started explaining what happened. "A man or demon or whatever just attacked us and took Hermione. He hit Nott with an energy ball."

"What? Who?"

They pointed to Theodore, who was lying spread-eagle on the ground a few feet away. Leo rushed over to try and heal him but he was too late. Theodore was dead.

"We need to bring him up to the hospital," said Leo.

"Who cares about him! He's already dead, we need to find Hermione before they kill her too!" Harry yelled, temper rising.

"Potter's right," said Draco firmly.

"We need to go to the sisters first. Let's go."

They orbed into the hospital and hurriedly explained to the shocked nurse what had happened before quickly rushing out.

They found the sisters sitting in the living room.

"A warlock just attacked the boys. He killed a student and took Hermione," Leo explained.

"Oh my god," said Paige. "What do we do?"

"What do you mean?" said Harry, getting more irritated. "We find her! Can't you...scry for her? She's a witch."

"Harry, you need to calm down," said Phoebe putting her hand on his arm.

As soon as she touched him the vision came to her.

When she opened her eyes, everyone was looking at her expectantly.

She looked at Harry before saying, "I saw what Voldemort wants to do with the seal."

"Were we right, does he want to start another war?" Harry asked anxiously.

"Yes, but the war's just a distraction for the bigger plan. He wants to kill you, Harry," Phoebe said softly.

"Tell me something I don't know," he snapped.

"I saw him do it."

Everyone was now listening intently to her.

She sat down and caught her breath before speaking again. "Everyone was fighting around the seal when you ran forward to duel with Voldemort. You managed to hit him with a...spell that knocked him out, but he was faking. When you got closer to finish it he...he hit you with a curse and you fell...inside the seal."

Everyone was staring horrorstruck at either Harry or Phoebe. No one knew what to say. Once again it was Harry who broke the awkward silence.

"Right. Well, I'll go and tell Dumbledore what Phoebe saw and when I get back we can figure out how to find Hermione."

"We'll go with you, Harry," said Ron and he and Draco followed Harry out.

"There's something I didn't say," Phoebe blurted out as soon as the boys were gone. "The spell Harry used against Voldemort wasn't a spell at all. It was your power, Piper."

"What? How is that possible?" asked Leo.

Piper, however, looked less surprised. "You mean we..."

"Uh huh."

"And it worked?"

"Yup."

"And the other two?"

"Oh yeah."

"Whoa."

"Would someone please tell me what's going on?" asked Leo.

"Well, we've kind of been working on a little spell," said Paige carefully.

"What kind of spell?" He looked afraid to ask.

"A spell that will duplicate our powers and give them to Ron, Harry and Hermione," said Piper very quickly.

"What!" Leo said again for what felt like the hundredth time.

"Look, we didn't know how you or the elders would react so we didn't tell you. But my premonition proved it worked. Or...will work," Phoebe said looking confused.

"The point is, they need another way to protect themselves, Leo. Wands aren't enough," said Piper.

"But what if the spell takes away your powers. You'll be vulnerable."

"It'll work. I saw it," Phoebe insisted.

"Okay. Even if it does, Hermione's not here," he pointed out.

"But Draco is," Piper suggested, already thinking ahead.  
ooooo  
The three boys made their way back from the Headmaster's office in silence. Dumbledore had looked very worried after the news had been brought to him.

When they got back to the Manor, Leo had gone and the sisters were waiting for them in the living room.

They said nothing and headed for the attic. Perplexed, the boys followed.

"What's going on?" Ron asked with a hint of worry in his tone as he took in the scene that lay before him.

There was a small round table in the middle of the room that was barely two feet off the ground. It was surrounded by lit, white candles and on it there was a large basin that was already emitting smoke. Next to the basin was a ceremonial athame.

"We figured out a way for you to be able to protect yourselves. Even when you can't get to your wands," Paige explained.

"Come and sit around the table. Draco next to me, Ron next to Paige and Harry next to Piper," Phoebe instructed. "Now each of you hold out your hands."

They did as they were told albeit with much apprehension. Piper took the athame and pierced her finger with it over the basin allowing the drops of blood to fall in. She took Harry's hand and did the same then passed the athame to Paige who did the same with Ron, then it was Phoebe and Draco. 

"Everyone gather hands and close your eyes," Phoebe said as the sisters started the spell together.

"We call upon the Power of Three, charmed you are about to be. What's mine is yours, but I'll keep it too. Part of me, now inside you. The power of time, light and sight is ours to share. Now let it pass through the air. From me to you, the power will come. By the Power of Three, let it be done."

With their eyes closed, they didn't notice the ring of light forming in the basin. Slowly it rose until it was around them all and when the spell was finished the force of the ring knocked them all backward.

"Well that was quite the ride," said Draco getting up and rubbing his head. "But what was the point? I don't feel any different."

Piper walked over to the table, picked up the athame and without warning threw it at Harry.  
Not able to get his wand out in time, Harry threw his hands up in defense and the dagger froze in mid-air.

"Piper! What the-" Harry began before he realized what he had just done.

Piper smiled as Paige walked innocently over to the dagger, plucked it out of the air and walked over to Ron. She raised it up high and brought it down in a slashing motion.

Ron let out a yelp and flinched. He orbed away only to reappear in the same spot seconds later.  
Draco watched and gulped as Phoebe headed towards him. When she was close enough she spun around, ducked and tried to trip him. He jumped up quickly...and to his surprise he didn't come back down right away. He was floating in mid-air.

"What the hell! I'm stuck! How do you work the controls?" he said, frantically waving his arms.

Phoebe laughed as she grabbed one of his legs and gently pulled him down.

"Now listen carefully. You can't tell anyone about this. The only other people who know are Leo and Dumbledore. If everyone finds out, you won't have the advantage anymore," Piper explained.

"We'll work with you until you get a good grip on your powers," said Phoebe. "Don't worry, you'll be pros in no time."

As they walked down the stairs, Piper noticed that Draco looked dejected. She stopped him halfway down.

"What's wrong?"

"Look, I'm not good at these little heart-to-hearts, okay. I'm not Potter," he snapped.

"I'm not asking for a heart-to-heart. I'm asking you what's wrong."

"I don't know!" he said obviously frustrated. "I got the worst power for starters. And I feel so...worried. It's annoying."

Piper got up to leave.

"Where are you going? Aren't you going to say something?"

"I'm no good at heart-to-hearts either. But Phoebe is."

She walked down the stairs and shortly after, Phoebe was joining him. "Piper tells me you're mad about getting the runt power."

"No offense," he said sullenly.

"None taken. I used to think I got the short end of the magical stick too. Until I realized that it was always my power that was saving the day," she said with a smile.

He shot her a doubtful look.

"Who do you think saw the chameleon demon attack before it did? Who just saw how Harry was going to die, so now we can stop it? Who do you think is going to find Hermione?" she finished. "And don't forget...you're an empath too."

"Is that why I feel all...everything?"

"Yep. Don't worry. I'll show you all the tricks of the trade. Including, how to work the controls."  
ooooo  
Sorry SO SO late. Please review.


	30. Old and New Friends

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters.

ooo**o**ooo

Chapter 30

"Number four. Here we are," Harry said.

"You actually had to _live_ here?" asked Draco in astonishment.

Ignoring the comment, Harry knocked on the door.

Petunia's face dropped as she saw the sight in front of her. Harry stood there smiling broadly with Piper, Paige, Phoebe and Draco all standing behind him, looking curiously on.

"Who-what-why?" Petunia stuttered.

"Hello to you too," said Piper and she received an elbow from Phoebe who decided to be a little more courteous, despite everything Harry had told them about the Dursleys.

"Hi. I'm Phoebe and these are my sisters, Piper and Paige. Harry's going to be staying with us this summer in California. We've just come to get his things. Can we come in?"

For a moment, it looked as if she would refuse. Then it seemed to sink in that Harry would be leaving and she nodded her head stiffly but still said nothing.

They walked into the immaculate house and were afraid to sit for fear of getting anything dirty. Harry and Draco headed upstairs to pack and promptly ran into Dudley…literally. Harry all but bounced off his cousin's formidably sized midriff.

"Hey cousin," said Harry cheerfully.

"_This_ is your cousin," Draco said with a snort. He noted the offended look on Dudley's face.

"Yeah, I am," Dudley said, suddenly gathering courage. "What of it?"

"You don't fool me, Dursley. You're scared of us. Very scared," Draco said mockingly.

This of course he knew to be true because of his empathic abilities and he found it absolutely hilarious that a boy as big as the both of them put together would be scared of them.

"So if you don't mind, get out of the way or Potter here will blow you to pieces," he added with a slight snarl.

"M-make me," the terrified boy said, not wanting to back down.

Harry started laughing and as he threw up his hands Dudley flinched and froze with his face in the strangest expression. It looked like he forever had to sneeze which of course made the two boys burst out into laughter.

Instantly, Piper felt her pocket grow warm. She reached in and pulled out a jet black crystal. Slowly it started to turn a light red.

"Boys!" she yelled upstairs. "What did we tell you about using your powers for personal gain!"

"Sorry!" was the hurried reply that came.

She looked at a perplexed Petunia. "Kids these days."

They had bewitched the crystal to let them know when the boys were being less than honest with their powers. They figured this to be a good idea after they found a few dozen people randomly frozen in the halls or crying because someone had revealed their secrets in front of everyone.

When the boys had finished packing, they came downstairs carrying Harry's trunk, which was considerably heavier, to find the sisters standing on one side of the living room while the Dursleys stood on the other. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

"Done," Harry called. "You ready to go?"

"I was ready when we got here," said Piper eyeing the Dursleys, stonily.

"Are all muggles this…weird?" Draco asked. "Can they talk? I mean, the fat one upstairs could."

"Now see here boy!" Vernon began, massive chest heaving slightly. "You do not come into _my_ house and-

Vernon's tirade was cut short as he froze, face still purple from rage.

"Harry!" Phoebe reprimanded.

"_That _was me," said Piper. "Now let's go before I blow them up instead."

Snickering slightly Harry and Draco apparated first while the sisters orbed out of the living room.

ooo**o**ooo

When they arrived at the real manor, Piper took the boys upstairs to the guest room so they could unpack and then went downstairs to start on dinner.

Downstairs, Piper and Leo were making dinner, Paige was playing with Wyatt and Phoebe was checking to make sure that the fireplace had been properly hooked up to the Floo Network before going to supervise Harry and Draco as they did their daily exercises.

Draco would throw various objects (books, athames, potions, etc.) at Harry and Harry had to either freeze them or blow them up depending on what they were. Draco had to spar with Harry and practice his levitation, then the hard part came. He had to relive some of Phoebe's more traumatic premonitions and be able to tell her which demon was in it and how to vanquish it. It was also supposed to help him get used to the strange feeling that comes along with the visions.

"Why do my ears keep ringing?" he asked, annoyed.

"You'll get used to it," Phoebe said with a smile. "Here. Read this next chapter in your potions book."

"Why doesn't Potter have to read?"

"_Harry_ has other things to do, now take your book."

As soon as he took it, the now familiar feeling of a premonition came to him.

"It was her, Granger!" he gasped as soon as the vision was done.

"What did you see?"

"Where was she?"

"Was she alone?"

"Was she hurt?"

"I didn't see much. She was sitting in a chair in the middle of a big room with stone walls. It looked like it was underground. She was blindfolded and gagged but she was alone."

"At least we know she's alive," said Harry, "but how can we find her?"

None of the adults in the room had the heart to tell the two teens that what Draco saw could have been the past.

"Why don't you grab the map and crystal and try scrying for her again. Use the book since that's what gave you the premonition," Piper said and motioned the others towards the kitchen.

"Why did you tell them to scry, Piper? It hasn't worked so far," Paige asked.

"I needed some time to think. Okay…what are the odds that she's still alive?"

They all collectively stared at her. "Oh come on, we have to be realistic. You can't say you haven't thought it. Phoebe?"

"I don't know, Piper. I _have_ had more visions of the future than the past. But how are we supposed to find where she is? They obviously have some sort of spell blocking her location."

For the first time, everyone noticed how incredibly stressed out Piper was. She had her hand on her forehead and looked like she was thinking hard.

"We found her!" Harry yelled from the living room before anyone could say anything.

They all rushed out to look at the map. "She's still in England," said Draco. "What do we do?"

"What do you mean 'what do we do'?" Harry said slightly glaring at the Slytherin. "We go get her."

"Harry, be reasonable. It could be a trap. In fact, I'd almost bet on it since the scrying hasn't worked before. Why would it work now?" said Leo.

"Who cares! If we wait any longer whoever has her is gonna kill her!" he fairly yelled.

"There's no way to know she's not dead already, right?" asked Draco, looking at the adults in the room solemnly. "It's true isn't it? She could be dead. What I saw could have been the past."

Piper slowly nodded. By now, Harry realized it was a waste of energy to keep screaming. "We have to be sure," he said almost pleading.

"Harry's right," Paige spoke. "We need to check. But we need a plan."

"This is what we're gonna do," Piper said taking a breath. "We're going to orb into wherever it is that she is. If she's there we get her and get out, if not we come back and scry again. Harry, Draco…you're not gonna like what I say next but you need to listen. If anything goes wrong, anything at all, you need to get out. If we yell for you to go, drop whatever you're doing and apparate your asses back here. Forget about us, we can take care of ourselves. No ifs, ands or buts about it. Do I make myself clear?"

Both boys understanding the potential gravidity of the situation, nodded.

Leo turned to Piper and kissed her. "Be careful."

ooo**o**ooo

They were definitely underground. The dirt ground and stone walls were a give away. Not to mention it was pitch black apart from the few dimly lit torches that dotted the walls every ten feet or so.

They found themselves in a long, narrow passageway, just big enough for two people to walk side by side. Piper lead the way with Harry while the others followed.

Walking for several minutes brought them to a large, wooden door.

Glancing at each other before hand, they pushed open the door.

The room was stone like the walls of the passageway with it's ceiling almost as high as that of the Great Hall. It was also just as dark.

Not that any of them noticed this because as soon as they were two feet in the room, they were bombarded by a wave of demons and Death Eaters.

It was chaos. They were outnumbered at least three to one, if not more.

Piper and Harry spared no time blowing up demons left and right, while the others tried to hold back the Death Eaters with wands or whatever means necessary.

No one noticed a bound and gagged Hermione tied to a chair in the middle of the room, but Draco felt her fear.

His head snapped up with the wave of her emotions and in all the commotion he managed to spot her.

"Grab the girl and go!" a harsh voice barked over the yells and grunts.

Draco saw a particularly dirty looking man making his way towards her. He also saw her head snap up at the voice and she began to struggle madly against her restraints.

He bent his knees and leapt into the air making his way over to the chained girl. When he was close enough, he fell, literally, on top of the man that was trying to get her and knocked him unconscious.

"Granger! It's me!" he yelled to get the terrified girl to stop struggling.

Up close he could see what shape she was really in. Dry tears stained her dirty and red face while bruises crept up on her wrists from her struggling. Blood, cuts and bruises were also visible in the many places where her robes were ripped.

Before he could start working to get the chains off, he heard Phoebe scream.

Looking quickly he saw her fall to the ground while Piper and Paige ran towards her.

"Let's get out of here!" Piper yelled.

CRACK!

"No! I see her!" Harry yelled, blowing up another demon.

"We'll come back!" Piper called over the confusion.

"I won't leave her!"

Before Harry could do anything, Paige waved a hand at him and said "home" and he was orbed out of the room.

"Where's Draco?" Piper asked frantically looking around the room.

"I heard a crack , I think he left already."

Draco hid behind Hermione's chair knowing that if they left her, she wouldn't be there when they went back.

Once he saw the sisters orb out he went to work on the chains. He had to blast them off which unfortunately made quite a bit of noise.

He got her roughly to her feet. "Hold on tight to my arm," he instructed.

"Get them!" a cold voice hissed from the shadows.

A chill went down his spine the second he heard it because he knew what it meant. He turned around and looked into the eyes of his biggest fear.

Voldemort, himself, was raising his wand at the two teens. Before he could even think of a spell to fire, they had apparated out of sight.

ooo**o**ooo

"We shouldn't have left her!" Harry was yelling.

"We'll go back," said Phoebe as Leo healed the gash on her head.

"She could be dead by then," he snapped.

"Harry, we warned you that if there was trouble we were going to leave right away. You don't see Draco complaining," Paige pointed out.

"I don't see Draco at all!" Piper shrieked.

ooo**o**ooo

They had ended up in the back yard. Both shaking but for different reasons.

He had seen Voldemort, face to face…and he had never been more afraid in his life. He had thought he was going to die. When he had looked into the Dark Lord's eyes he had frozen. He had forgotten all thoughts of leaving. He had all but given up. If she hadn't grabbed his arm at that second, they would have died for sure.

He turned to her and slowly took the blindfold and gag off.

The rush of gratitude that he felt when her moist eyes looked into his made him all but fall over.

She threw herself at him and gripped him tightly almost as if she was afraid he wasn't really there, and he patted her back awkwardly but stopped when she whimpered and pulled away. He turned her around and saw that her robes had nearly been shredded, her bra strap exposed. She had been whipped, repeatedly by the looks of it, and it was a second before he realized that it made him furious.

Before either of them said anything, they heard a shriek from inside.

"I don't see Draco at all!" he heard Piper yell.

When they walked into the living room, everyone fell silent before the tears began to pour out. Hugs were given all around and Leo healed Hermione so she was fine apart from being a little sore.

Of course, Hermione wanted to go see her parents right away.

She gave everyone one last hug goodbye and when she got to Draco she whispered "thank you" into his ear and kissed his cheek.

He wiped it automatically and she smiled before orbing out with Leo.

Gratitude is what Draco later decided was the feeling coming from her. He didn't know that it wasn't the only thing.

ooo**o**ooo

And they were on the chase again. This time it was Phoebe who had had a premonition of a young woman being attacked by a demon. Strangely, Phoebe had thought the girl looked familiar but she couldn't quite place the face.

This is what brought them to a dark alley in the middle of the night while the boys waited at home with Leo.

As soon as they turned the corner, they saw a rather petite blonde girl fighting with an extremely ugly demon. They were going to jump in when they realized that she was handling herself quite well. She was swinging a giant red axe at it but she kept missing. One swift kick, however, sent the demon flying in their directions.

Piper let out a yelp before freezing the demon then blowing him up.

"Wow. I've never seen a Sordauq demon blow up before. I usually just stab 'em and they die," the blonde girl said dusting her clothes off and brandishing the axe at her side.

"Wait…how did you know what that was?" Piper asked.

"Slayer. You?"

"Witch," Piper replied.

"Cool."

"Wait, you mean like a 'vampire' slayer?" asked Paige.

"The one and only. Well not _only_ so much anymore."

"Oh my god," Phoebe suddenly said.

"Oh your god what?" the girl replied.

"You're the girl. The one from my premonition! You fought all the demons…in the big hole!"

"Huh?"

"Are you sure?" said Paige and she received a glare from Phoebe.

"Who are you?" asked Phoebe.

"Who are you?" the girl asked back, getting suspicious.

"I'm Phoebe. These are my sisters Piper and Paige. We're the Charmed Ones." She wanted to get the girls cooperation and figured this was the best way.

"Buffy. Wait, did you say 'Charmed Ones?' Why does that ring a bell?" she asked more to herself than to them.

Without warning, in a puff of purple smoke, a pretty red-headed girl had teleported to Buffy's side.

"They're famous witches," the red-head answered. "I told you about them."

"And who are you?" asked Paige.

"Willow. Nice to meet you."

"Okay, why don't we move this powwow to anywhere but here. Follow us," Piper said and they orbed out.

"Friend or foe?" asked Buffy.

"Friends, definitely," said Willow and she took Buffy's hand and teleported out of the alley.

ooo**o**ooo

Harry and Draco had quickly gotten bored sitting around the Manor and asked Leo if they could go out for a walk. After much nagging Leo had reluctantly agreed. So now the two teens could be found walking down the streets taking in all the sights.

Soon they came across a small playground. And it wasn't empty.

The grunts could be heard from a few feet away.

They approached with caution and they couldn't believe the scene that was playing out in front of them.

A young girl with long brown hair was fighting with a tall blonde man dressed all in black. Upon closer inspection they could see that the man's face looked horribly disfigured.

He ran at the girl and she spun around and kicked his backside sending him flying into the dirt. Once he was down she jumped on him pining his legs to the ground and pulled out a thick wooden stick from her pocket and aimed it at the mans chest.

"Ha! I win again," she said cheerfully, thoroughly confusing the two teenage boys that were now hiding behind a park bench observing the odd couple.

"Don't get cocky, 'lil bit. I let you win," the man said, surprising the boys with his British accent. "Get off me will you."

"Don't go all Mr. Grumpy on me 'cause I beat you…_again,_" she said smiling. "And lose the wrinkles."

Suddenly the man's face changed and he looked like a normal person.

A very audible gasp escaped Harry's lips before he could stop it which earned him an elbow from the blonde next to him.

The man's head snapped to their direction. "Dawn, we're not alone," he said quietly. "Whoever you are you best come out now or I'll skin you alive!" he called out threateningly.

They couldn't help but notice the very real growl audible in his voice.

Draco gave Harry a 'we can take them' look before stepping out from behind the bench. Reluctantly, and knowing if he went home without Draco he'd be in big trouble, Harry followed.

"Who are you?" the girl named Dawn asked.

"We could ask you the same thing," Draco replied and received a couple of raised eyebrows at his accent.

Dawn smiled. "Friends of yours, Spike?" she asked the man.

"Not. Who sent you?" he said seriously.

"No one. My name's Harry and this is Draco. We sort of live down the street."

"What are you?" Draco blurted out. Harry could have kicked him. Actually he did. Rather hard. "What the bloody hell was that for, Potter? You saw his face."

"Vampire. You?"

"Wizard," Harry answered. "You?" he asked the girl.

"Um, teenager?" she said uncertainly. "But I do know some spells. And my sister's the Slayer."

"Easy with the family history, 'lil bit. We don't know these buggers."

"Slayer?" Draco asked, ignoring the man. "Then what are you doing with him?" he said nodding his head toward Spike.

"That is none of your bloody business, and also a very long story," Spike replied.

"He's good, I swear. I'm Dawn, by the way and this is Spike."

"Nice to meet you," said Harry noticing for the first time that Dawn was very pretty.

"Hey, watch who you're staring at," Spike said protectively and took a step forward.

Instinctively, Harry froze him on the spot and Dawn let out a little squeal.

"What did you do to him?" she asked, half-angry, half-amused.

"I didn't hurt-

But his explanation was cut off by blue orbs and purple smoke.

"There you are," Piper began to the boys.

"We've been looking all over for you," Buffy said to the other two.

ooo**o**ooo

I know it's short. You guys deserve a novel after how long I made you wait but this was a good place to end I think. Please review and feel free to yell and swear at me all you want I just hope you liked the chapter.


	31. Absolutely Not

Disclaimer: I don't own any character.

ooo**o**ooo

Chapter 31

It had been a while since the Halliwell Manor had been filled with this many magical beings at one time. About half a dozen witches and wizards, a couple of angels, a Slayer complete with her own Watcher and even a vampire now adorned the living room.

It had taken about three hours to get all the introductions and history out of the way. By now it was one o'clock in the morning and sleep was the last thing on anyone's mind. The one collective thought was stopping Voldemort.

"Alright, well what do we know? We know the seal is open and we know Pasty wants to chuck Harry in," Spike was saying.

"Well, thank you Captain Obvious," Xander retorted sarcastically. "But what the rest of us are concentrating on is how to stop that from happening."

"I may be missing something but, can't we just close the seal?" Draco asked.

"It's not that simple. The only way to close it is with the tears of the person who opened it," Buffy explained.

"Hell, I can cry," said Piper. "I'm close to tears right now."

"Yeah but they need to be 'Oh my god, I'm such a horrible person for opening the blood sucking seal, I'm so sorry' tears," Buffy clarified.

"Yeah…that's not gonna happen," said Piper.

"I think our biggest problem is getting past those uber-vamps again. They were so not fun the first time," Dawn said with a slight shiver remembering the last battle.

"Didn't you get rid of them all last time?" Phoebe asked.

"Yeah. I took the bloody buggers out when I exploded but I bet there's plenty more where they came from," Spike said which earned him more than a couple of curious glances.

"We can start working on some potions for that," said Paige. "The problem will be making sure we have enough ingredients. I wish I had figured out how to make that Protection Potion, too" she sighed, "that definitely could have helped."

"There might be another potion," Hermione said excitedly. "It's not exactly a protection potion but it might do just that. It's supposed to be very difficult to brew but I'm sure I could do it with your help," she finished beaming.

Draco marveled at the fact that she could be so excited at the prospect of concocting a new potion despite the circumstances.

"And I can work on some force fields. I've never tried individual ones before, and I'm not sure they'll work, but I like a challenge," Willow said with a smile.

"Okay, well you, Paige and Hermione can start working on that stuff. Buffy, you can start trying to get in touch with some of your slayer friends, we're going to need all the reinforcements we can get. Spike, you can round up any trustworthy demons you can find that are willing to fight. Phoebe and Chris can go to Grimmauld Place and fill in the rest of the Order on what we know. The rest of us will be here trying not to die from exhaustion," Piper finished tiredly.

At once, Hermione disappeared into the kitchen with Paige and Willow, and Phoebe and Chris orbed out.

"I guess we'll go home and start networking then," Buffy said with a slight yawn. "We'll let you know if we hear anything. Good night."

The crowd in the living room had finally dwindled down with just a few hours before sunrise.

Draco was looking at Piper worriedly. It didn't take his empath powers to see that she was exhausted and on the brink of worrying herself into insanity. He was itching to ask her who died and made her boss but thought better of it.

"Why don't you try to get some sleep?" he asked instead.

"Honey, I don't think I could even if I wanted to," she said stifling a yawn.

"Well, you're not going to be any good to us half asleep," he grumbled.

"Lay off, Draco," Harry snapped.

"Make me, Harry," the blonde spat back.

Within seconds they were both on their feet.

"That is enough!" Piper yelled, making Hermione, Paige and Willow run into the living room. "Don't you think we have enough people trying to kill us already without us turning on each other! I can't believe you two right now," she said pushing the two hotheaded teens away from each other.

Draco stalked off into the conservatory visibly fuming but silent and Harry threw himself onto the couch, scowling.

Hermione gave Harry a reproachful look before following Draco.

She found him sitting with his back to her facing the windows. When she sat down next to him she was surprised when he started talking without even looking at her.

He felt her coming and knew she was concerned which is why he didn't bite her head off when she sat next to him.

"So far everyone I have even remotely tolerated has either died or tried to kill me. I don't want Piper to die."

"None of us do."

"Well, if she wears herself ragged she's not going to be able to put up much of a fight, Granger."

"I understand that, but you have to understand that sometimes you come off a bit, well…abrasive," Hermione said, choosing her words carefully.

"We can't all be as prim and proper as you," he smirked.

"Just talk to her and tell her you're concerned. I'm sure she'll understand."

"Why do you have to be so damn logical about everything all the time?" he drawled.

"Why do you have to be so stubborn all the time? Being nice isn't the same as showing weakness. The only reason you and Harry butt heads so often is because you're always determined to prove him wrong. Would it kill you to see things his way every once in a while?"

"Possibly. I really wouldn't want to risk it."

She let out a soft giggle and when he felt his stomach flip he shrugged it off as hunger.

Just then Harry walked in. "I'm sorry I snapped at you," the brunette supplied reluctantly.

However reluctant it was, Draco could tell it was sincere. He nodded in acceptance of the apology and grunted a 'yeah' in response. Harry, figuring the grunt was better than nothing, left the conservatory mumbling something about going to bed.

"It's nearly three. I think I'm going to head home myself," Hermione said more to herself than to her blonde companion as she got up off the floor.

He followed suit and they stood there awkwardly for a few seconds before he surprised himself and her by leaning forward and giving her a soft hug. "Thanks, Granger. Good night."

She walked out of the room slightly dazed and confused and said good-bye to the others before Apparating home.

"I saw that," said Paige mockingly, coming out from behind the corner.

Draco looked quite putout as the redhead approached with a smirk on her face to rival his own. The look on his face clearly said, "please, not now," but his effort was fruitless.

"She likes you," Paige said bluntly.

"Absolutely not," Draco said, leaving the room, his tone ending any potential conversation…at least in his mind.

She followed him into the living room where Piper and Harry were flipping through the Book of Shadows.

"I thought you were going to bed?" the blonde asked hoping for a diversion.

"Don't change the subject," Paige snipped. "You can ignore it all you want, but it won't change anything."

"There's nothing to change," Draco said through gritted teeth. "Shut up…please."

"You know I'm right," she challenged, arms crossed. "You can feel it can't you, Mr. Empath?"

He looked as if he wanted nothing more that to punch Paige squarely in the jaw, but at the same time there was that nagging voice in the back of his head. It was the same voice that had told him to hug her. But why had he listened?

His silence couldn't have provided a clearer answer. "Thought so," she said, smiling triumphantly and headed upstairs to her room.

Piper and Harry, who were both looking thoroughly confused yet slightly entertained, were now staring expectedly at Draco for an explanation.

"I hate her," he stated flatly and headed upstairs without another word.

ooo**o**ooo

The sheets weren't itchy. It wasn't too hot or too cold. He was comfortable…but he couldn't sleep.

Paige's words kept ringing in his head with every toss and turn he made in bed. He would deny it to the death if anyone brought it up, especially Paige, but he couldn't ignore the growing emotions he could feel coming from Hermione since the day he saved her. After all, she was around all the time. But what did he care about her childish infatuation? It didn't mean anything; he had saved her and she was grateful. End of story.

He had been trying to fall asleep for a while now and when he finally did, he wished he hadn't.

He found himself back underground in the corridor leading to the room where Hermione had been kept. Hesitating slightly outside the door, he pushed it open to reveal an apparently empty room. The chair she had been tied to lay askew on the ground, restraints still smoking as if they had just been blasted.

A slight ruffle made him turn around and coming out of the shadows were the last two people he expected to see. Hermione was visibly shaking as she stepped forward with Voldemort's wand digging into her neck. He sneered at Draco before hissing, "Imperio."

Instantly, a complacent look came over Hermione's face. She walked towards him slowly and as she did she drew her wand and aimed it squarely at his chest. Doing the only thing he could think of, he rushed forward and wrapped his arms tightly around her, pinning her arms down by her sides.

"Granger, stop. You don't want to do this. Fight it," he whispered.

He had barely gotten the words out before he was blasted backwards off of his feet. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Voldemort lowering his wand. Hermione walked steadily towards the fallen teen, wand poised to attack. Then, without blinking…without hesitation…she uttered the curse she would never have said voluntarily.

Draco barely had time to register how wrong those words sounded coming from her before the green blaze hit him.

He woke so violently that he almost tumbled out of bed. Breathing heavily and covered in sweat, he looked around the room wildly for a second, barely noticing that the sun was shining brightly through the curtains.

He got up sluggishly, headed towards the door and saw that it was already open. Peeking his head out into the hall, he thought he saw a rat disappearing into a closet. He grabbed a shirt from the nightstand, threw it on and headed downstairs. Catching a glimpse of a clock, he saw that it was nearly twelve.

Paige, Leo and Chris were all in the conservatory helping Ron with his orbing. By the size of his yawn, he had gotten up not too long ago. Draco gave him a nod as he passed into the kitchen. The blonde's stomach gave a nasty lurch when he walked in and saw a bushy brown ponytail in front of the stove. She was carefully stirring a potion while she stared at a clock. To Draco's surprise, Snape walked in with Phoebe and Piper.

"How long, Miss Granger?"

"Ten minutes."

"Once you reach twelve, switch to counterclockwise stirring for an additional two minutes."

"What is she making?" Draco finally asked, and noticed that the ponytail twitched as if she wanted to turn around, but didn't.

"Something that will be a really big help if it works," Phoebe said.

"It will work," Hermione said confidently. "I know it will."

Piper brought Draco and Snape a plate of eggs and toast. "Coffee?" she asked Snape.

He shook his head, but Draco on the other hand needed the caffeine. "I'll take some. Black, one sugar."

Piper arched an eyebrow at him. "Please," he added with a charming smile that would have made any girl weak at the knees.

Just then, Harry walked in swearing loudly. "Sorry," he said quickly to everyone. "Spike and Buffy just called and said that nearly every demon in this area is either dead, already on Voldemort's side or in hiding. Can't we get a break?"

"Done!" Hermione announced as if in answer to his question. She stepped away from the stove to reveal a potion unlike any they had ever seen, except Snape of course. Small gold colored, marble sized drops of potion were leaping merrily out of the cauldron, not spilling a drop.

"Well done," said Snape, obviously impressed, and Hermione beamed. Her eyes flickered towards Draco and he averted her gaze and found himself looking at Snape who gave him a disconcerting smirk.

"You've got a rodent problem, you know," he said quickly trying to get the focus off of himself.

"Well, we can't exactly get rid of you, can we," said Piper.

"Funny, but I was taking about a rat, actually."

"Ew. Where?" Phoebe asked.

"It was upstairs. Scruffy looking thing too. I think it was missing a foot…paw…whatever."

The jolt he felt in his stomach after he said this made him want to throw up.

"Where did you see it?" Harry said, nearly pouncing on him.

Sensing the turmoil inside Harry, he answered quickly. "It was heading into the closet next to my room."

The words had barely left his mouth before Harry bounded upstairs. They heard a yell, followed shortly by a small explosion. A few seconds later, Harry walked into the kitchen breathing hard. "It was him. I know it was." Hermione clasped her hand to her mouth. "He escaped through a hole in the closet. It must lead to the outside. I blasted it trying to get to him but…"he broke off.

Draco couldn't believe what he was seeing let alone feeling. Harry looked like he was about to cry and Draco could feel a mixture of anger, hate, sadness and frustration coming from him.

Phoebe and Snape got up and headed into the living room. Following their lead, Hermione gave Draco a significant look and he got up and followed her out of the kitchen, leaving Harry and Piper there alone. They went into the now empty conservatory and sat on the couch.

"What the hell just happened?" Draco blurted out as soon as they were seated.

He could see as well as sense her hesitation and could tell that whatever it was, it was major. "Tell me."

She let out a shaky breath and began. "How much do you know about Sirius Black?"

He thought it was an odd question but he answered anyway. "He murdered a mess of muggles and that Peter Pettigrew after he sold out Potter's parents to Voldemort, and in our third year he escaped from Azkaban using his animagus power to kill try and kill him. Oh and he's dead."

"Ok…what if I told you that most of what you just said was wrong?"

ooo**o**ooo

Words cannot describe how sorry I am. :(


	32. Some More Help

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters.

ooo**o**ooo

Chapter 32

"What if I told you that most of what you just said was wrong?"

"I would ask you to explain," Draco said looking at Hermione quizzically.

"Sirius didn't kill those muggles. Pettigrew did when he blasted the wall behind him to make it look like Sirius had killed him. Then he cut his own finger off, transformed into his animagus state and ran away to let Sirius to take the blame."

"The biggest piece they found of him was his finger," Draco recalled out loud.

"Yes. He faked his own death and framed Sirius for it."

Draco noticed the sadness in her voice as well as the fact that she was calling Sirius by his first name.

"How do you know all this?"

"It gets worse. Pettigrew's animagus form is a rat. When Sirius escaped in our third year, he wasn't after Harry…he was after Pettigrew…_Ron's_ rat."

Draco's eyes widened at what he was hearing. Tears started to spill from Hermione's eyes as she continued.

"He had been hiding with Ron's family the entire time! And Sirius didn't betray Harry's parents either, that was Pettigrew too! Sirius was Harry's godfather, he would never have done that. He was supposed to be their secret keeper but he switched with Pettigrew at the last minute because he knew Voldemort wouldn't suspect him. What he didn't know is that Pettigrew was already working for the other side."

It was getting harder for her to continue but now that she had started she wanted to get it all out.

"We had him. In third year…we had him. We were going to be able to prove that Sirius was innocent. Then he got away."

"How?"

"Lupin transformed and he used that as a distraction."

He patted her back awkwardly and neither of them spoke for a few minutes.

"Wait. How did you know Sirius was dead?" Hermione asked, sniffling and wiping away some stray tears.

"My father. One of the few things he did tell me. He practically bragged about what happened between Black and my psychotic aunt."

"Did he tell you how Dumbledore came and rounded them all up like dogs?" she said fiercely.

"No. He actually left that part out. Can't imagine why though," he said smiling slightly.

"What else did he-

She was cut off by a trail of blue orbs as Ron materialized in front of them. He immediately noticed that Hermione had been crying and also noticed how close the two were sitting.

"What the bloody hell is going on? Why are you crying? What did you do?" He spat at Draco.

"Wormtail," was all Hermione whispered.

"Where, here? Now?" Ron asked looking around wildly.

"No, he got away."

Before anything else could be explained, Ron's owl Pigwideon flew wildly into the room carrying a small letter.

"It's from Ginny," Ron said reading quickly. With every word he read, his face grew more pale.

"What is it?" Draco asked anxiously.

"Luna's dad's been murdered. And so have Blaise's parents."

"What?!" Draco yelled, immediately jumping to his feet.

"They're staying at the Burrow."

Without another word, Draco apparated out of the manor.

ooo**o**ooo

Draco found himself staring at the structure that lay before him in sheer amazement…that it wasn't falling over. As he got closer, he smelled so good, it nearly made him drool. He smelled a home cooked meal. As he got closer to the side door, he heard voices from inside.

"Ginny, Blaise, Luna! Come on, food's done. Don't let it get cold."

"Coming!"

Many footsteps followed the answer and soon, the clanking of plates and utensils could be heard. He finally decided to knock. Everything went quiet inside.

"Who is it? What's your business here?" Mrs. Weasley's worried voice called through the door.

"Er. It's Draco. I'm here to see Blaise."

A chair could be heard scraping across the floor and footsteps walked toward the door. Draco was surprised to hear Blaise's voice.

"Tell me something only Draco would know."

Draco thought for a second then smirked as he said, "You fancy Ginny. Now let me in."

The door opened to reveal Blaise with a slight but detectable blush visible on his dark skin.

Draco gave him a brotherly hug.

"I'm sorry about your mum and dad."

"Me too."

"Draco, dear. Come in and pull up a chair. There's plenty to go around. Help yourself," Mrs. Weasley offered from inside the kitchen.

"Thank you," he said, stepping in and sitting down next to Blaise.

He could hardly contain himself with all the food despite the fact that he had eaten breakfast not too long ago. He also couldn't stop looking at the sheer volume of things inside the house. The Malfoy manor had always felt so empty and cold to him, but the Burrow was the exact opposite, warm and lived in.

He felt a small pang of guilt as he remembered every cruel thing he had ever said about the Weasleys, while he sat there comfortably in their home, eating their food.

"How's everything at the manor?" Ginny asked. "Ron's not very good at sharing information."

"As well he shouldn't," said Mrs. Weasley bustling about the kitchen. "I have enough children in danger already without adding you to the lot."

Draco hesitated a minute before answering. He had heard of the wrath of Mrs. Weasley and didn't want any part of it.

"It's fine. Everything's ok," he said finally.

Ginny looked at him skeptically but asked no more. Once everyone had finished eating, they headed out into the living room and sat down on various chairs and poufs.

"Alright, so back to what happened," Ginny began.

"So we got back from Diagon Alley, the Knight Bus dropped us off down the street, and that's when we saw it. The Dark Mark above my house," Blaise finished.

"We didn't want to go in obviously, but we knew we had to," Luna said looking off into the distance.

"We found them inside and there was a note on the floor."

Blaise looked at Luna and she pulled a piece of crumpled parchment out of her pocket.

_After the Mudbloods and Muggles, Blood Traitors and Half Bloods Beware. _

Ginny scoffed, "Not if we get them first. And who are they playing at. According to them everyone that's not a Death Eater is a Blood Traitor," she finished angrily.

Blaise looked at her admiringly and she smiled back.

"Slightly off topic here, but what were you two doing in Diagon Alley…together?" Draco asked looking from Blaise to Luna and back again.

"Well after that quidditch match we played against each other, I was kind of impressed with all the rules Luna knew, so we kept in touch after that," Blaise explained.

"And you're ok with that?" Draco asked Ginny.

She smirked, "I'm very understanding."

"Yes, and I knew there was a new quidditch shop opening in Diagon Alley so I told Blaise and we decided to go," Luna continued as if there had been no interruption.

"And your dad went to Blaise's house to pick you up?" Ginny asked and Luna and Blaise nodded.

Ginny then looked at Draco expectantly. "I know you were lying earlier. What's going on?"

"I'd tell you but I don't want your mother to kill me," Draco said looking over his shoulder.

"No one's going to tell her," said Blaise.

"Yeah, we don't want to die either," Ginny said smiling.

Against better judgment, Draco launched into his story. He started from the night him and Harry found Dawn and Spike fighting and ended with that morning leaving out, leaving out the Pettigrew bit, partly because he didn't want to divulge too much and partly because he didn't know how much they knew, and if they did know, he didn't want to worry them.

"A _real_ vampire slayer…and a vampire?" Ginny asked.

"I've heard stories but I never thought they were true," Blaise added.

"Of course they are. I have a distant cousin who's a vampire. He's over two hundred years old so the relation is very distant as you can imagine," Luna mused.

Ginny and Blaise held back snickers and were surprised when Draco took her seriously.

"Is he evil?" he asked.

"Oh not at all. He used to be, but he has a soul now. It all has to do with a very complicated spell but-"

"Can we trust him? Do you think he'd be willing to help fight," Draco cut her off.

"I can ask him. I don't see why not. He does owe my father a favor. But you'd be better off asking him yourself. He lives in California."

"Can you owl him and tell him to meet me somewhere later tonight?"

ooo**o**ooo

They spent the rest of the day catching up. At one point Paige orbed in to check up na dmaking sure everything was alright and Draco told her he would be home later.

"Right. Well I better get going. I'm meeting your cousin in five minutes. I'll try to keep you updated but I'll sign the letters with Harry's name in case your Mum finds them," he smirked.

He apparated to the park where him and Harry had first met Dawn and Spike. Standing in front of him was a tall, dark-haired man dressed in all black. The hem of his long black coat flirted with the grass below.

"So you're Luna's cousin?" Draco asked hesitantly.

"A couple hundred years removed, but yeah. She's a cute kid."

"You're American?"

"Irish, actually. Accents tend to fade with time."

"Right," Draco said somewhat awkwardly. He was slightly frightened despite the fact that the man in front of him gave him nothing but good vibes. However, he did have a good foot and a half on Draco and he was a vampire. "So…impending doom and almost certain death. You interested?"

"Why not. Just one more apocalypse I can put on my resume. I'll need a few details first though."

"Sure. Walk with me." Draco took some time to admire his great business skills as he launched into the basic history of Voldemort and what he planned to do with the Hellmouth. He held back on all the personal details involving everyone because after all, he had just met the man.

"Ya gotta love those prophecies," was the only response that he received when he finished.

"Well here we are," Draco announced as the reached the Manor.

"You have to invite me in."

"That's actually true," Draco asked amused.

"Yes, it's hilarious," his brooding companion said sarcastically.

Draco felt a pang of annoyance aimed him way. "Fine. You're invited. No need to get your knickers in a twist," Draco said, pushing the door open.

"My knickers are not twisted. You just remind me of someone I don't particularly like," he said stepping into the manor.

"Really? Who?" Draco asked as they walked into the living room where Spike sat watching T.V.

"Bloody hell!" he yelled, immediately leaping off of the couch.

"Him," the man said pointing at Spike.

"You two know each other?" Draco asked.

"Know and loathe," Spike clarified.

Just then, Piper walked in, "Where have you been? And who the hell are you?"

"Angel," Buffy said, shock etched in every line of her face.

"You look good," he said.

"You too." They almost forgot they weren't alone. "Everyone, this is Angel. We're lucky to have him here."

There were various murmurs of hello before Spike loudly and rudely interrupted.

"Speak for yourself. We don't need this wanker."

"We _need_ all the help we can get," said Piper. "Welcome aboard. Harry can answer any of your questions in the kitchen."

Draco and Angel walked into the kitchen while Piper tried to calm Spike down.

"What is your problem? Voldemort has an army. We have almost nothing. We need him, and anyone else we can get for that matter."

"Fine. But don't come crying to me when you find him feasting on the kiddies in the middle of the night."

"That's not fair," Buffy said furiously to Spike.

"What is he talking about?" Piper asked looking from one blonde to the other.

"Come on. I'll explain everything," Buffy sighed and her and Piper left the house.

One hour and several interesting slays later, Buffy had finished her story and they were headed back to the manor.

"So he can never be happy?" Piper asked.

"Never _truly_ happy. No."

"That doesn't seem fair."

"Well, in the gypsies defense, he did do a lot of damage, not gonna lie. But in Angel's defense…he's done a lot of good since then. Like a whole lot. But when he's bad…it's bad. It's like a parade of badness," Buffy finished, slightly afraid of Piper's reaction.

"What if we can fix it?"

This was the last thing Buffy expected to hear. Which is why a very audible "Huh?" escaped her mouth.

"Well, from what you told me, it sounds like the gypsies only gave Angel part of his soul back. The part that doesn't want him to be happy, the bad part. If they had given him his whole soul back, his conscience, or the good part, would have been able to trump the bad but without the consequence of him being all fangy and grrr," Piper reasoned.

"But his soul was his conscience. That's why he stopped killing, because his soul made him feel all the pain he had caused."

"But Spike has his soul and he can be happy."

"Spike wasn't cursed," Buffy explained, "He _wanted _his soul back."

"Ok. So what if we uncurse Angel, then we just give him his soul back, minus the curse."

"You can do that?" Buffy asked.

"I'm not exactly positive, but I'm pretty sure."

"You do realize that when you uncurse him, he'll be-"

"Very dangerous. I know. I think I have an idea on how to deal with that."

ooo**o**ooo

Yeah so the Angel idea literally just dropped in my head and I had to use it. I hope I didn't just kill my story with this. Let me know.


	33. Plans

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters.

Chapter 33

"Piper, are you _sure_?" Buffy asked for the fifth time as they made their way back to the Manor.

They walked briskly down side streets and Piper tried to convince her companion that the plan was foolproof. Again.

"Buffy," she began again, losing patience, "I told you...the Draught of the Living Dead is the most powerful sleeping potion in existence. The only way someone can wake up from it is by giving them the antidote. But you know what? I just thought of something. Here we are talking about Angel like he doesn't have a say. What if he doesn't want to be cured? You did say he was the brooding type."

"Yeah. He can be pretty big into the self-loathing. Says he deserves everything that's happened to him, which I can't argue with...to a point."

"How about we bring it up to him _after_ the big battle? Honestly, if we survive it he'll just deserve it that much more," Piper compromised.

"Yeah," Buffy agreed. "That sounds fair."

**OoOoO**

Back at the manor, Harry was answering Angel's questions in the kitchen. He didn't have many, however, as Draco had been pretty thorough. Harry had just finished telling him about Phoebe's latest premonition when Willow walked in with Spike and Draco.

"I need some other volunteers to test out how many individual force fields I can keep going at one time," she said, looking pointedly at the two brunettes sitting at the table.

"Come on then, Foreheads R' Us," said Spike while he retrieved a coffee mug of blood out of the fridge. "Let's have a rumble for old times sake."

Draco snorted and Willow looked at him, disappointment clear on her face as if to say, don't encourage them, please.

"I'm in," said Harry quickly, standing up to join the group. "Angel?"

He sighed heavily. "This is a bad idea."

"A little faith please, Angel," said Willow looking offended. "We need more people though."

Just then Buffy and Piper had returned from their walk.

"More people for what?" asked Buffy.

"I was just going to test out how many force fields I can hold at once," replied Willow. "My guess is about a dozen factoring in all the movement and distance and-"

"Yeah, yeah we got it," interrupted Piper. "Chris! Ron! Hermione!" she bellowed.

Soon they had a decent sized group of people all waiting to see Willow show off.

"Alrighty. The plan is simple," Willow began. "I'll put up a force field around each of us and then we'll just try to hurt each other in some way and see if they hold," she finished, smiling as if they were just about to have tea and not possibly cause each other bodily harm.

Hermione looked a little nervous. "Maybe we should just try some stunning spells?" she suggested. "You know, nothing too dangerous."

"Honey, I don't think the Death Eaters are going to be trying to stun us," Willow said, gently. "I have to really test myself on this. Don't worry. I've done way harder things."

Willow put up a force field around each person. There were 12 in all. First, it was Hermione's job to perform spells of increasing degrees of danger to each person. Then they progressed to two people dueling. Then two pairs of two people and so on until there was basically a free-for-all in the manor. Ten minutes of heavy mock combat later and the good news was that all the force fields had held. The bad news was that Willow collapsed and the living room was pretty much destroyed.

Looking dejected she said, "I'm sorry, guys. It looks like I can only hold them all for a short time. There's just too much going on, too many things to concentrate on. I have to reinforce them individually after really nasty spells and I'm almost positive that they won't hold up for more than ten minutes if I'm trying this many at once."

"You did great, Will," said Buffy. "Ten minutes of invulnerability is way better than none."

"Buffy's right," chimed in Angel. "Ten minutes is more than enough time to change the tide in a battle. We'll have to use them strategically and not all at once. We need a battle plan."

There was a chorus of serious agreements all around. The severity of what they were going to come up against was beginning to weigh heavily on everyone involved, and with no way to tell when Phoebe's last premonition was going to happen, everyone was on edge.

"Ok, if we're going to do this, we need to do it right," Piper began. "Someone needs to send word to Dumbledore and the rest of the Order."

"I'll go to Dumbledore," said Ron.

"I'll go with him," Hermione added, taking Ron's hand so they could orb.

Only Harry caught the subtle glare that flashed swiftly across Draco's face before he expertly composed himself again.

"Next, we need all the room in here we can get. Let's move out all the extra furniture and get some more chairs and stuff," Piper continued.

Paige orbed all the unneeded furniture to the attic and Snape conjured up a few dozen chairs. All that was left was to wait for the cavalry.

In less than twenty minutes, the manor was jam packed with magical and supernatural beings which mostly consisted of the Order and a few handfuls of Buffy's closest slayer friends.

Everyone that was present was up to speed with the situation. They were simply here to discuss strategy. Piper began.

"From Phoebe's premonition we know that we are up against three main enemies. Well, four if you count Voldemort separate which we probably should. They are Death Eaters, the super vampires-"

"Uber-vamps," Buffy corrected.

"Yeah, that," Piper continued, "and demons." She was about to go on but Phoebe raised her hand. "Yes, Phoebe I count warlocks and dark lighters and all that good stuff under just plain 'demons.'"

"Hey, I'm supposed to be the psychic one," she pouted, trying to lighten the mood but only earning one of Snape's rare smiles, which was enough for her.

"I think it would be best if we matched ourselves up with the enemy that we know best," Buffy suggested. "Me and the other slayers will take on the uber-vamps, the sisters can go after the demons and the wizardy types can handle the Death Eaters."

"That'll be good to start," said Angel. "But once we get down there it'll be chaos. The uber-vamps alone will probably outnumber us all," he pointed out.

"Yeah but we can each take on about four at a time," Buffy reminded him.

"Yeah we know you're all really strong and that's splendid," Draco interrupted hotly, earning him some glares. "I just want to remind some of us here," he said looking pointedly at Piper, "that we are aiming to kill here. I don't want to hear any of this, 'we don't vanquish humans' nonsense."

"Don't you take that tone of voice with me, mister-" Piper began.

"He's right, Piper," Dumbledore said, calmly. "Those who have sided with Voldemort are prepared to kill. They are not interested in stunning their enemies or taking any prisoners. Their main goal will be to clear the way for Voldemort to get to Harry." He paused here and looked to Harry trying to read any trace of distress on his face, but Harry was merely looking at Piper and nodding gravely. "And they will do so without mercy. Those of us in the Order are prepared to do what it takes to stop them."

"Well we are too," said Paige. "We know this is life and death. We won't hesitate if it means losing someone we care about. Which is why Hermione and I have been slaving away making more potions than we can count. We have enough vanquishing potions to fill up a backpack for everyone."

She waved her hand and a large box, big enough for a couple of people to sit in comfortably, orbed into the middle of the room. It was full of brown, canvas bags that were a bit smaller than an average backpack and each one was full of small bottles of an electric green potion. Paige began handing them out as she spoke by orbing them one at a time onto people laps. Once everyone had a bag, she put hers on.

"The strap is elastic," Paige explained. "It'll fit each person differently, but we made them so that you wear them off to the side and out of your way. If you're right handed, wear it on your left hip so you can reach across and throw it without having to fumble with it."

"There _are_ a decent amount of potions per person but you should really only use them in an emergency," Hermione added. "Basically, if you get cornered or outnumbered or are about to face off with something you've never seen or dealt with...use one," she finished bravely, but it was easy to see that she wasn't thrilled with the idea herself.

Draco noticed. _Great_, he thought, _another person I have to worry about._

While people around the room were outfitting themselves with their packs, Paige continued. "We were also able to cook up one more beauty. By 'we' I mostly mean Hermione and her giant brain with Snape's help too I guess." She waved her hand again and a small golden pill, about half the size of a plain M&M candy, appeared in everyone's hand. "This is a luck potion. It was the closest thing we could think of to a protection potion since those apparently don't exist. We made it into a pill form to make it easier to carry around. Since we don't know when this battle is going down, I suggest everyone keeps it on them at all times. Pop this little sucker and you'll be lucky for about fifteen minutes so don't panic and take it early."

Several people gingerly placed their pills in their pockets, triple checking that there weren't any holes in their pants.

"So we have Willow's shields for ten minutes, on and off, and a luck potion for another fifteen minutes...what do we do when we're on our own?" Dawn asked, nervously, "Cross our fingers?"

"We do the best we can," Kingsley replied in his calming voice, and several people just nodded at no one in particular.

"We still need a way to close the seal," Buffy pointed out. "Even if things go our way at first, if we don't close it, we'll just end up getting overwhelmed."

"Willow and I have been working on a spell for that," Phoebe said. "All we need is a bit of Piper's blood, but we can't exactly test it out till we get there."

"It's better than nothing," Xander said.

"We seem to be saying that about a lot of things," Spike muttered, but no one heard him.

"We have one last thing to pass out," Snape said. "The Headmaster and I have been working on a way to communicate to everyone that the battle has started and to get everyone to the seal when the time comes, as not all of us have the ability to travel quickly," he said mostly looking at the slayers. "We have combined our portkey and floo powder magic with the sisters' magic and we devised these coins." As he spoke, he walked around the room handing out silver coins the size of quarters but with nothing on the front or back of them. "When the time comes, the coins will emit a high pitched tone. Then you simply take the coin in your hand and say 'seal' and you will be taken there. The coins will become inactive after use to prevent any unwanted enemies from using them."

Before anyone could say anything else, an owl flew into the room from the open windows in the conservatory and dropped a letter in Kingsley's lap.

"I am needed at the Ministry if we're done here," he said.

"Yes, I think that we are as prepared as we can be," said Dumbledore. "All we can do now is wait."

With that, the group slowly started to disperse. The slayers went home with Buffy, the Order members apparated back to England for the time being and Leo took Wyatt up to the Elders, until only the sisters were left with Chris and Ron, Harry, Hermione and Draco.

Hermione wandered off into the kitchen alone and Draco, feeling her turmoil, followed.

He watched as she took a jug of orange juice out of the fridge and poured herself a glass. Her hands were shaking. It wasn't until she turned to sit down at the table that she saw him there.

"Let me guess," she said morosely, "you can feel my inner grief?"

"Er, yeah," he admitted a bit awkwardly, sitting down in front of her.

"And?" she pressed, clearly wanting to get rid of him.

He sensed this too and it irritated him. Here he was trying to help her and she was snapping at him.

"_And_ I don't understand what the problem is," he stated.

"It's not that hard, Malfoy," she snapped again. "Or did you not hear the same thing I did in there? It'll be a miracle if we survive this and we have to _kill_ people. I don't know if I can do it," she finished lamely, the fire going out of her as she spoke.

"You can and you will," he retorted.

"It's easy for you to say. You didn't see what those potions do that Paige and I made. You don't understand. They blow things up! If I throw that at a death eater, I'll be blowing up a person! It could be your father!"

"Good!" he hissed. "It's what he deserves, what they all deserve. Or did you forget that those _people_ you're so worried about blowing up are the same people that supported Voldemort blowing up Harry's parents, the same people that would get in line to blow you up?"

"But that's what separates us from them, don't you see?" she argued. "They're evil. All we have going for us is that we're not. If we go down to their level-"

"Dammit, Granger! We'll live," he said, banging the table with his fist. "That's what will happen if we go down to their level. If you hesitate for a second, you're dead."

He was right and she knew it, and he knew that she knew it but she would never agree out loud. Instead she took a few gulps of her juice, pushed out from the table and got up.

"I can't talk to you when you're like this," she said sadly.

She turned around to leave the kitchen and right as she crossed the threshold into the living room she walked into Bellatrix's knife.

**OoOoO**

AN: So it's literally been years...hee hee oops. But hey, that's life. This is literally almost done and I feel ashamed that I waited this long to finish it. If anyone is still reading it, I hope you enjoy this short chapter. There aren't very many left! :)

PS. I looked up Felix Felicis and apparently it takes six months to brew so I'm just going to pretend that I didn't know that :p


	34. Battle

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters. 

Chapter: 34

Everything slowed down, yet there was still no time for him to do anything. He watched in horror as the back of Hermione's pale green shirt became caked with blood. The knife had gone all the way through.

He jumped from his seat and yelled, "Help!" as he rushed over to her. She stumbled backward and he caught her and placed her gently on the floor. She was pale and shaking and clutching her stomach with both her hands. He tore off his over shirt and pressed it to the wound, covering his hands with her blood in the process. Instantly, the word 'mudblood' flashed in his mind as he took in the shocking redness that he was now covered in. What a ridiculous word, he thought wildly.

Piper and the others ran into the kitchen, shocked etched on each of their faces.

"Draco, what the hell happened?" Harry yelled, almost falling down in his hurry to be next to the injured girl, while Ron stood by too stunned to move.

"Oh my god, Leo!" Phoebe yelled.

Leo was there instantly and Draco tried to explain over the commotion, though there wasn't much to say. "It was Bellatrix," he explained a little dazed. "She apparated just as Hermione was leaving the kitchen. It all happened so bloody fast. She was gone before I was even out of my chair."

Draco looked down at Hermione's stomach still not believing what just happened. There was a rip in her shirt from where the knife had gone through but the skin underneath was smooth without so much as a hint of a scar. Without thinking, he brushed a finger over the spot staining it with blood all over again.

She took his hand to stop him. "It's started," she said, not really to him because she had raised her voice to make sure that everyone would hear.

"What's started? What are you talking about?" asked Chris.

"That's what Bellatrix said," she answered, getting up with Leo's help and making her way over to a chair. "After..." she gestured down to her stomach, "she whispered it in my ear. She said _it's started, it's open_."

"She obviously meant the seal," said Paige.

"Obviously," agreed Piper. "But why tell us? Why not just come here with an army and kill us all?"

"That is a very good question," Leo agreed. "It's probably a trap."

"Even if it is, what choice do we have?" said Phoebe. "If the seal is open then all Hell is literally breaking loose right now and we have to stop it. If it's not open we still have to stop them anyway.

"If we go, we're going on their terms and they have the advantage, which is clearly what they want," Draco pointed out.

"Yeah. Leo pretty much covered that with the whole 'it's probably a trap' thing," Chris snapped. He was on edge and so was everyone else. Even though they had just formulated a battle plan mere minutes ago, no one had expected it to go down so soon.

"We need to decide now," Ron chimed in. "The longer we wait, the more vampires come out of the seal and the more outnumbered we'll be."

"_If_ the seal is even open," Hermione said.

They were just talking in circles and a decision had to be made. Chris took it upon himself to help them along. "I'll be right back," he stated, and before anyone could ask him why or where he was going, he had orbed away.

"You don't think?" Piper began, asking no one in particular, but before anyone could even answer, Chris was already back.

"Yup, it's definitely open," he stated.

"Christopher Perry Halliwell, what where you thinking!" Piper shrieked. "You could have been killed!"

"Relax. It's not like I would have died. I haven't even been born yet," he said rolling his eyes. "And more to the point, the seal's open. Isn't this about the time we call in the cavalry?"

"Why don't you tell us what you saw first," said Leo.

"It was dark, there were guys in robes and masks everywhere, demons, and oh yeah there were a tons of ugly ass vampires running around! We need to go. Now. Or we don't stand a chance."

"Alright. This is it then. Hermione, maybe you should stay behind," Piper began.

"No, I'm fine. I'm going. There's no way I'm sitting here waiting to see if anyone makes it back," she answered stubbornly, getting up from her chair and stretching gingerly.

Piper nodded and pulled out her silver coin. She muttered something and it, along with all the others, began to make a loud high-pitched noise. "Everyone get your packs on and make sure they're tight on you. We don't want those potions in the wrong hands. Remember, they're going to try and separate us from Harry. We can't let that happen. We have to stick together no matter what." She looked around the room gravely. "Be careful...all of you. Let's go."

The sisters joined hands and orbed, followed closely by Draco and the trio and lastly Leo and Chris. They found themselves several hundred feet away from the seal waiting for the others to arrive. One by one, Order members and slayers alike were arriving at the designated spot.

The slayers arrived armed to a T. They were each brandishing at least two or three different weapons. Anything from swords, axes, daggers and crossbows could be found around their waists, strapped to their backs or already nestled in their firm grips. Dawn was among them and Harry couldn't help but be worried. She didn't have super strength or any powers to speak of but there she was ready to fight to the death with the rest of them. He decided that if they survived, he would need to find a way to thank her. No, not just her, all of them.

Angel and Spike were standing a bit in front of everyone peering into the dark, looking at things that the others couldn't see. They had no weapons except their bare hands, but they seemed to be quite content with the promise of the violence that was soon to come. In fact, they both looked utterly relaxed. Spike was even enjoying a cigarette.

"It looks like we have everyone," Piper whispered. "Wait where's Willow?"

"She's up there," Buffy said, motioning to the sky. "She figured if she keeps out of the way she'll be able to hold up the force fields better."

"But won't _flying_ kind of interrupt her concentration a bit?" Draco asked, incredulously.

"Here," Hermione said, reaching her arm into her pack way farther than she should have been able to. She pulled out a broomstick much to everyone's surprise. "Undetectable Extension charm. Anyway, if she flies on this she can conserve her energy."

_Get down here Will_, Buffy called into her friend's mind.

In a swirl of purple smoke, Willow teleported to them. "Use this so you can save your energy," Buffy explained.

"Ooh I get to be the witch on a broomstick, my life is complete," she smiled, hopped on and flew out of sight.

"Ok, we'll go in first," said Buffy motioning to her small brigade, which included Angel and Spike. "And just to warn everyone, Willow is going to be monitoring us from up there. So if you hear someone in your head yell _duck_ or _go left_ or whatever...just do it so you don't die."

Everyone nodded and the slayers and two vampires advanced slowly in crouched positions. They wanted as much of an element of surprise as they could muster given that their enemies knew they would be coming eventually.

They reached the edge of the chasm without being seen or heard and peered over the edge. In the ruins near the seal there were already dozens of the strange vampires wandering restlessly about, their thirst evident in their constant snarls. The Death Eaters were keeping their distance, from the seal and the vampires, and seemed to be stationed at certain intervals to anticipate an attack.

Buffy and the others took advantage of this and made their way around so that when they descended they would be almost right on top of the seal and the vampires.

Buffy turned to look at her girls. "Stake 'em hard, stake 'em fast and don't you dare die. If you get into a jam, pop your pill." She looked around at them all once more before sliding down into the crater flanked by both Angel and Spike.

As soon as the others saw Buffy and her crew disappear into the crater they advanced towards the waiting Death Eaters.

All at once, chaos erupted. The slayers had begun taking out vampires left and right and the Death Eaters turned when they heard the commotion. They hesitated, unsure of whether they were supposed to help the terrifying creatures. In that moment of hesitation, when their backs were turned, Piper and the rest came at them.

They advanced in a solid line, firing spell after spell and immediately knocking down some of the masked fiends from behind. The Death Eaters' cries filled the air as they attacked back. Spells rained down from both sides and lit up the night sky like deadly fireworks.

Soon, however, vampires started to make their way passed the slayer line.

"Look out!" Buffy yelled as three of the vampires leapt over her while she was taking out four more.

They rushed towards the wizard side of the battle. One of them was immediately taken out in a shower of dust by a stray killing curse but the other two kept advancing. Arrows whizzed through the air and found their marks in the vampires' backs but they weren't deep enough to even slow them down. They separated and one headed towards Snape while the other made it's way to Draco.

Snape, who was busy dueling two masked Death Eaters, didn't see the vampire coming up behind him. Willow did. At the moment the vampire brought it's clawed hand up to strike, Willow threw a shield around Snape so that all he felt was a tap on the back, which made him whirl around and fire off a spell without hesitating.

The vampire was blasted backward off its feet and nearly sailed into Piper, who blew it to dust. She was going out of her mind trying to keep an eye on everyone. Every time she thought someone was mildly safe for the moment, she would turn and find someone else who was outnumbered.

Currently, that someone was Draco. Piper saw a vampire advancing towards him and he was already dueling with a particularly large Death Eater.

She started to run over when more figures started appearing out of thin air, blocking her path.

"Warlocks!" she yelled in warning to everyone. She ripped two vials of potions out of her pack and hurled them at the mass of demons in front of her. She felt the heat on her face from the explosion and saw a horrified Draco whip around at the sound and finally notice the vampire charging at him. The Death Eater he was dueling took advantage of Draco's loss of concentration and sent a killing curse at him.

Before Piper could even utter a warning, Draco had flattened himself on the ground and the spell had sailed passed him and into the throng of demons, annihilating a few.

_Thank God_, Piper thought, relieved, as she blew up the vampire that was almost on him.

_Just 'Willow' is fine, _the other witch thought at her and Piper could almost feel her smile in her head.

Paige had been orbing Death Eaters away from the battle but they were only apparating back so she had taken on a new tactic. She had started deflecting their spells back at them and when they eventually ended up stunning themselves she would orb them out, as they wouldn't be coming to anytime soon.

Phoebe was sticking close to Snape and kind of acting as his secret weapon. Since she didn't have an active power, Willow was trying to keep a force field up around her at all times. Not having to worry about getting hit, Phoebe was free to kick butt the old fashioned way and truth be told, once Snape had disarmed a Death Eater and Phoebe began advancing towards them, they didn't know what to do with themselves.

Harry, Hermione and Ron were trying to stick together in the confusion but it was becoming more difficult as larger numbers of demons began arriving. More potions were flying now that people were being confronted by things they had never seen before.

Hermione yelped when she saw a hideous, scaly demon charging at Draco. She fumbled in her pack for a potion and launched it without aiming properly. Ron had to orb it to make sure it hit its mark but when it did the demon exploded very nearly in Draco's face.

"Get over here!" Hermione yelled at him and he scrambled over to the trio.

"What?"

"We need to stick together!" she said fiercely, throwing another potion at a giant blue demon with horns that had spotted her.

The four teens made their way to the sisters and Snape to try and regroup. They noticed that there were little to no Death Eaters left in the fray. A quick look around showed that there were only demons and vampires left, but the vampires seemed to be endlessly pouring out of the seal.

"We have to get the seal closed or this will never end," Paige said over the commotion.

_Willow, can you work your end of the magic from up there_, Phoebe asked.

_Yeah I should be able to…in theory. But then again the whole thing is just a theory_.

"Piper, we need a little bit of your blood," Phoebe said, pulling a small, empty glass vial out of her pocket.

"That won't be a problem," she answered motioning to a knick on her forehead that was still bleeding.

Once Phoebe had what she needed, their small brigade began heading towards the seal and that was where the advanced fighting was happening. Half the time they were trying to get by the skirmishes unscathed and the other half they couldn't help but be in awe of the slayers' skills. The grace with which they fought was mesmerizing. They could leap up and over their opponents and have them staked before the vampires even noticed they were swinging at nothing. They wielded their steel weapons with precision, swinging them as freely as if they weighed nothing. Even the slayers that were no longer armed were landing punches and kicks that were sending their foes sailing through the air.

Phoebe had to get close enough to the seal to be able to carry out her spell but still stay far enough away so that she wasn't in danger of being possessed or trampled by the hordes of vampires still trying to escape from below. Backed by her sisters, Snape, Draco and the trio, Phoebe hurriedly began laying out the ingredients for the spell while Willow communicated to the other Order members to make their way towards the seal to give Phoebe as much protection as possible. They formed a line with Phoebe safely behind them and began helping the slayers.

Through the clamor Phoebe worked, feverishly placing candles and herbs like rosemary, cypress and yarrow root on a ceremonial white cloth. Just as she was about to start chanting there was an earth shattering eruption that shook the ground she sat on. She stopped what she was doing and turned to see the cause of the new commotion and immediately wished she hadn't.

Flames were erupting on the ground behind them. Any demons left were vanquished the instant the flames reached them. She knew right away that these were no normal flames. She could almost certainly see animals moving within them.

"Fire! Everyone look out!" she yelled, snatching up her ingredients.

Snape whipped his head around when he heard her yell. Phoebe saw his eyes widen as he took in the scene and her fears about the fire were confirmed when he yelled, "FIENDFYRE!" and all of the wizards turned in disbelief with similar looks of fear on their faces and began backing away from the flames.

Suddenly, Willow appeared among them. She was out of breath and there was blood flowing freely from her nose. "Something attacked me up there just before the fire broke out," she explained, hurriedly. "I couldn't really make out what it was because it's so dark but it was definitely people-sized and flying and~"

A green spell came flying out of the fire and sailed passed everyone.

"NO!" Harry yelled when he saw where the spell was headed.

Dumbledore had been helping the slayers, only vaguely aware of what was going on in the background. He turned when he heard Harry yell. He turned just in time for the Avada Kedavra to hit him squarely in the chest.

Harry ran over to him, not daring to believe his eyes and ignoring the yells from his friends who were trying to warn him.

Voldemort had finally arrived. It was him that had cast the fiendfyre, it was him who had killed Dumbledore and it was him who was now making rag dolls out of everyone around him to make his way to Harry.

OO**O**OO

A/N: Holy crow, there are still people reading. People that have been there from the start, which only makes it more amazing! Pickles, Ariana and Drusilla THANK YOU so much. When I saw that I had reviews (especially from you guys!) I was pumped because 7 years is a loooooong time so glad ya'll are still enjoying it. Also, I know it was a terrible thing to kill Dumbles like that BUT if he was there, he would have wiped the floor with Voldy and left nothing for everyone else to do and that just won't do for my outcome :p


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